The Nature of the Chemical Bond. VI. The Calculation from Thermochemical Data of the Energy of Resonance of Molecules Among Several Electronic Structures

Abstract

In the first part of this paper there is given a set of bond‐energy values for single, double, and triple bonds between atoms, obtained from thermochemical data, such that the total energy of formation from separate atoms of a molecule containing given bonds is equal to the sum of the energies for those bonds. In the derivation of these values data were used only for molecules for which it is probable that one electronic structure, corresponding to one distribution of valence bonds, represents the normal state to a satisfactory degree of approximation. For other molecules more than one electronic structure of this type contributes essentially to the normal state, the energy of formation of the molecule then being larger than that for any one of the contributing structures. On comparing the energies of formation given by thermochemical data with the values calculated for various structures, it is verified that this difference is always positive or zero (to within the limits of error involved). The difference in energy is interpreted as the resonance energy of the molecule among several electronic structures, and its existence in a given case provides strong evidence that more than one structure is contributing to the normal state of the molecule, the number and importance of the contributing structures being indicated by the magnitude of the resonance energy. In this way the existence of resonance is shown for many molecules, and values found for the resonance energy are tabulated. The substances discussed include carbon dioxide, carbon disulfide, alkyl isocyanates, carboxylic acids and esters, aliphatic amines, carbonic esters, urea and related substances, benzene and benzene derivatives, naphthalene and other condensed ring systems, pyridine and related heterocyclic compounds, biphenyl, fluorene, phenylethylene, dihydronaphthalene, quinone, some ureides and purines, etc.