One-electron bonds are not “half-bonds”

Abstract

The formation of one-electron bonds follows the same mechanism as the regular covalent bonds. It is the same phenomenon, quantum interference, that rules the stabilization of systems containing such bonds and there is no distinction between one- and two-electron bonds from the conceptual point of view. The difference in the BDEs of the one- and two electron bonds has no relation with bond order. One-electron bonds are not “half-bonds”.