title: Methyl substituent effects in [H(n)X...XH(n)](+) three-electron-bonded radical cations (X = F, O, N, Cl, S, P; n = 1 - 3). An ab initio theoretical study.
abstract: The effects of methyl substitution on the geometries and bonding energies of a systematic series of three-electron-bonded radical cations of the type [H(n)X...XH(n)](+), covering all possible symmetrical three-electron bonds that may take place between atoms of the second and third rows of the periodic table, have been investigated at the level of Møller-Plesset perturbation theory. Methyl substitution leads to significant weakening and lengthening of the X...X bond when X is a second-row atom. The effects increase with the number of substitutions and are more and more important in the series X = N, O, F. By contrast, methyl substitution leaves the bonding energies between third-row atoms practically unchanged but leads to a surprising bond shortening in the S...S and P...P cases. These seemingly contradictory effects are rationalized through a qualitative analysis based on an elementary molecular orbital description of three-electron bonding.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie-Physique, Groupe de Chimie Théorique, Université de Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Benoît
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Braïda
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hazebroucq
authors.forename: Philippe C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hiberty