In: Chemistry
Analyze the ? bonding in the nitrite anion (NO2?) using a molecular orbital scheme. Use the approach we used in lecture to work on the trans-1,3-butadiene molecule.
(a) Determine the ? MOs that are obtained by constructive overlap of the 2p orbitals. Arrange them
from low energy to high energy in terms of their bonding and antibonding character.
(b) Make an energy level diagram for the ? MOs and populate it with the ? electrons.
(c) From the energy level diagram, determine the effective bond order for each of the bonds. What does this information imply about the structure of the molecule?
(d) Determine the electron configuration for the first excited state, and determine then how the
structure changes when light is absorbed owing to an optical transition from the ground state to
the first excited state. Note that the way you combine the 2p orbitals in part (a) must respect the
symmetry of the molecule. For example, if there is a ? node in one of your MOs, it must not move if you interchange the O
atoms by rotating the molecule. (This means that one of your MOs must have a node that goes through one of the atoms....