BOND LENGTHS AND BOND ANGLES IN OCTAHEDRAL, TRIGONAL- BIPYRAMIDAL, AND RELATED MOLECULES OF THE NON-TRANSITION ELEMENTS

Abstract

The stereochemistry of molecules in which there are five or six pairs of electrons in the valency shell of a central atom is discussed in terms of the repulsions that exist between pairs of electrons in the valency shell as a consequence of the operation of the Pauli exclusion principle. An explanation is given for the difference in lengths of the axial and equatorial bonds in molecules such as PCl5 and ClF3 whose structures are based on the trigonal-bipyramidal arrangement of five valency-shell electron pairs. The fact that in molecules with a central atom with a valency shell of six electron pairs, one of which is a lone pair and which have the structure of a square pyramid, the central atom always lies below rather than in, or above, the base of the square pyramid, is also accounted for.