4.4 Molecular orbital theory: the ligand
group orbital approach and
application to triatomic molecules
Despite its successes, the application of valence bond
theory to the bonding in polyatomic molecules leads to
conceptual difficulties. The method dictates that bonds
are localized and, as a consequence, sets of resonance
structures and bonding pictures involving hybridization
schemes become rather tedious to establish, even for
relatively small molecules (e.g. see Figure 4.10c). We
therefore turn our attention to molecular orbital (MO)
theory.
Molecular orbital diagrams: moving from a
diatomic to polyatomic species
As part of our treatment of the bonding in diatomics in
Section 1.13, we constructed MO diagrams such as Figures
1.21, 1.27 and 1.28. In each diagram, the atomic orbitals of
the two atoms were represented on the right- and left-hand
sides of the diagram with the MOs in the middle. Correlation
lines connecting the atomic and molecular orbitals were
constructed to produce a readily interpretable diagram.
Now consider the situation for a triatomic molecule such
as CO2. The molecular orbitals contain contributions from
the atomic orbitals of three atoms, and we are presented
with a problem of trying to draw an MO diagram involving
four sets of orbitals (three sets of atomic orbitals and one
of molecular orbitals). A description of the bonding in
CF4 involves five sets of atomic orbitals and one set of
molecular orbitals, i.e. a six-component problem. Similarly,
SF6 is an eight-component problem. It is obvious that
such MO diagrams are complicated and, probably, difficult
to both construct and interpret. In order to overcome
this difficulty, it is common to resolve the MO description
of a polyatomic molecule into a three-component problem,
a method known as the ligand group orbital (LGO)
approach.
MO approach to the bonding in linear XH2:
symmetry matching by inspection
Initially, we illustrate the ligand group orbital approach
by considering the bonding in a linear triatomic XH2 in
which the valence orbitals of X are the 2s and 2p atomic
orbitals. Let us orient the HXH framework so that it
coincides with the z axis as shown in Figure 4.11. Consider
the two 1s atomic orbitals of the two H atoms. Each 1s
atomic orbital has two possible phases and, when the two
1s orbitals are taken as a group, there are two possible
phase combinations. These are called ligand group orbitals
(LGOs) and are shown at the right-hand side of Figure
4.11.† Effectively, we are transforming the description of the
bonding in XH2 from one in which the basis sets are the
atomic orbitals of atoms X and H, into one in which
the basis sets are the atomic orbitals of atom X and the
ligand group orbitals of an HH fragment. This is a
valuable approach for polyatomic molecules.
In constructing an MO diagram for XH2 (Figure 4.11), we
consider the interactions of the valence atomic orbitals of X
with the ligand group orbitals of the HH fragment.
Ligand group orbital LGO(1) has the correct symmetry to
interact with the 2s atomic orbital of X, giving an MO
with HXH -bonding character. The symmetry of
LGO(2) is matched to that of the 2pz atomic orbital of X.
The resultant bonding MOs and their antibonding counterparts
are shown in Figure 4.12, and the MO diagram in
Figure 4.11 shows the corresponding orbital interactions.
The 2px and 2py atomic orbitals of X become non-bonding
orbitals in XH2. The final step in the construction of the
MO diagram is to place the available electrons in the MOs
according to the aufbau principle (see Section 1.9). An
important result of the MO treatment of the bonding in