Structure and Bonding in Organic Molecules

Abstract

In Chapter 1 we develop qualitative molecular orbital theory as a tool for the description of bonding phenomena. This includes selected examples of acyclic and cyclic hydrocarbons, and also illustrates the effects of including electronegative heteroatoms, such as oxygen or nitrogen. In the section of the chapter on hyperconjugative interactions we employ this toolset to explore the stability of common transient intermediates, such as carbocations and radicals, followed by an analysis of anomeric effects, gauche effects and conformational barriers in alkanes. The stability of organic molecules is subsequently discussed within the framework of the Benson group increment method, which also provides a basis for quantifying molecular strain energies or the aromaticity of cyclic molecular systems.