Monthly Archives: November 2008

Huckel's rule, aromatic character, and molecular orbitals

Posted on November 26, 2008 by alan

Today's lecture tried to tie Huckel's rule to a number of topics, including:aromatic character, a more nuanced way of talking about aromaticitycharge distributions and geometryevaluation of "minor" resonance structuresmolecular orbital theoryYou can see all of the slides that were used… Continue reading →

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Supersized ferrocene impossible?

Posted on November 18, 2008 by alan

Ferrocene and acetylferrocene, the compounds featured in our current lab experiment, are examples of sandwich compounds or metallocenes. A metallocene of some sort has been made with every transition metal in existence, but double metallocenes in which two organic rings… Continue reading →

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Alkene pi orbital energies

Posted on November 14, 2008 by alan

A question on today's conference problem set asked you to predict how the energies of the pi and pi* orbitals of a typical alkene would respond to twisting the alkene.Valence bond fans: The VB model doesn't contain "pi" or "pi*"… Continue reading →

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Models of Chemical Bonding

Posted on November 12, 2008 by alan

Today I decided to re-trace my steps on Monday and provide a more complete description of chemical bonds through the eyes of molecular orbital theory. A list of take-home lessons from this presentation:MO models contain new orbitals (molecular orbitals), while… Continue reading →

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Halloween Pumpkins

Posted on November 5, 2008 by alan

Halloween fell on Friday this year so I should have been expecting a "trick" or "treat" when I arrived at lecture. Little did I know that I would get both.Everyone was seated in the dark when I arrived and two… Continue reading →

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Bromonium ions

Posted on November 5, 2008 by alan

Here are pictures of the models that I shared with you in class on Monday. They address different issues.Model #1 – A Stable Bromonium Ion. A bromonium can be stabilized by placing large groups around the alkene. These groups offer… Continue reading →

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