CHEMISTRY AND ELECTRONEGATIVITY

This article addresses the chemical aspects of electronegativity: (1) What is its present status in the chemical community? (2) What are the necessary chemical criteria for a quantitative definition? (3) To wha t extent do contemporary proposals satisfy these criteria? (4) What co nnection can be made between the traditional free-atom scales and an i n situ electronegativity appropriate for a particular atom in a specif ic molecule or solid? A longstanding special feature of electronegativ ity has been the seeming inability to measure it in the laboratory and this aspect proves to be a key to its definition. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.