In order to describe bonding and molecular structure in main group compounds, many curricula and textbooks rely on the participation of d orbitals. However, a wealth of computational evidence suggests that d orbitals participate minimally (if at all) in the bonding of these compounds. While molecular orbital theory can be used in advanced courses to circumvent d orbital participation, foundational inorganic chemistry courses rarely introduce the group theory or computational skills necessary for students to make use of this model when describing many main group compounds. Presented here is a potential pedagogical alternative, negative hyperconjugation. This contribution will highlight how negative hyperconjugation was introduced to foundational inorganic chemistry students as a model that can explain trends in main group chemistry. Further, the extent to which students are able to use negative hypercougjucation productively as a model to explain/predict phenomena on summative assessments will be discussed.

Alternative to using d-orbitals to describe bonding in main group compounds

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.