第8章共有結合の理論

The beryllium atom in a gaseous BeCl₂ molecule is an example of a central atom with no lone pairs of electrons in a linear arrangement of three atoms. There are two regions of valence electron density in the BeCl₂ molecule that correspond to the two covalent Be–Cl bonds. To accommodate these two electron domains, two of the Be atom’s four valence orbitals will mix to yield two hybrid orbitals. This hybridization process involves mixing of the valence s orbital with one of the valence p orbitals to yield two equivalent sp hybrid orbitals that are oriented in a linear geometry (Figure 8.8). In this figure, the set of sp orbitals appears similar in shape to the original p orbital, but there is an important difference. The number of atomic orbitals combined always equals the number of hybrid orbitals formed. The p orbital is one orbital that can hold up to two electrons. The sp set is two equivalent orbitals that point 180° from each other. The two electrons that were originally in the s orbital are now distributed to the two sp orbitals, which are half filled. In gaseous BeCl₂, these half-filled hybrid orbitals will overlap with orbitals from the chlorine atoms to form two identical σ bonds.

We illustrate the electronic differences in an isolated Be atom and in the bonded Be atom in the orbital energy-level diagram in Figure 8.9. These diagrams represent each orbital by a horizontal line (indicating its energy) and each electron by an arrow. Energy increases toward the top of the diagram. We use one upward arrow to indicate one electron in an orbital and two arrows (up and down) to indicate two electrons of opposite spin.

When atomic orbitals hybridize, the valence electrons occupy the newly created orbitals. The Be atom had two valence electrons, so each of the sp orbitals gets one of these electrons. Each of these electrons pairs up with the unpaired electron on a chlorine atom when a hybrid orbital and a chlorine orbital overlap during the formation of the Be–Cl bonds.

Any central atom surrounded by just two regions of valence electron density in a molecule will exhibit sp hybridization. Other examples include the mercury atom in the linear HgCl₂ molecule, the zinc atom in Zn(CH₃)₂, which contains a linear C–Zn–C arrangement, and the carbon atoms in HCCH and CO₂.

The valence orbitals of a central atom surrounded by three regions of electron density consist of a set of three sp² hybrid orbitals and one unhybridized p orbital. This arrangement results from sp² hybridization, the mixing of one s orbital and two p orbitals to produce three identical hybrid orbitals oriented in a trigonal planar geometry (Figure 8.10).

Although quantum mechanics yields the “plump” orbital lobes as depicted in Figure 8.10, sometimes for clarity these orbitals are drawn thinner and without the minor lobes, as in Figure 8.11, to avoid obscuring other features of a given illustration. We will use these “thinner” representations whenever the true view is too crowded to easily visualize.

The observed structure of the borane molecule, BH_3, suggests sp² hybridization for boron in this compound. The molecule is trigonal planar, and the boron atom is involved in three bonds to hydrogen atoms (Figure 8.12). We can illustrate the comparison of orbitals and electron distribution in an isolated boron atom and in the bonded atom in BH₃ as shown in the orbital energy level diagram in Figure 8.13. We redistribute the three valence electrons of the boron atom in the three sp² hybrid orbitals, and each boron electron pairs with a hydrogen electron when B–H bonds form.

Any central atom surrounded by three regions of electron density will exhibit sp² hybridization. This includes molecules with a lone pair on the central atom, such as ClNO (Figure 8.14), or molecules with two single bonds and a double bond connected to the central atom, as in formaldehyde, CH₂O, and ethene, H₂CCH₂.