CHEMICAL BONDING VIA BOHR CIRCULAR ORBITS AND A 2NXN FACTORIZATION OF2N(2)

One type of Bohr orbit approach to descriptions of the electronic stru ctures of atoms and molecules is based on a 2n x n factorization of th e atomic shell-structure formula 2n(2). It involves n circular orbits with principal quantum number n, each of which may accommodate a maxim um of 2n electrons. Aspects of a previously published account of this type of orbit theory are reviewed for compounds of main-group elements , and for several transition metal complexes. New types of orbit diagr ams are provided for some of the systems considered previously. The th eory provides a straightforward representation for the tetrahedral car bon atom. Attention is given to orbit diagrams for a variety of hyperc oordinate systems, and to the general reluctance of atoms of first-row elements to form stable hypercoordinate compounds. Orbit diagrams for two elementary triatomic reactions are also provided, and examples ar e provided of new types of Bohr orbit calculations of the energies for H-2(+) and H-2.