Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry - Bonding molecular orbital; bonding orbital

Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry

Bonding molecular orbital (bonding orbital): A molecular orbital formed by in-phase overlap of atomic orbitals. A bonding molecular orbital is lower in energy than the atomic orbitals from which it is formed.

	+		---->
Hydrogen 1s atomic orbital		Hydrogen 1s atomic orbital		H₂ σ bonding molecular orbital

Two hydrogen 1s atomic orbitals overlap in phase to form the egg-shaped H₂ σ bonding molecular orbital.

Related terms: Nonbonding molecular orbital, antibonding molecular orbital, p orbital, p_x orbital, p_y orbital, p_z orbital, hybrid orbital, sp³ orbital, sp² orbital, sp orbital, sigma orbital, σ orbital, sigma* orbital, σ* orbital, pi orbital, π orbital, pi* orbital, π* orbital, HOMO, LUMO, SOMO, orbital electronegativity
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