Intermolecular bonding
Two atoms are joined by a chemical bond when the pristine electron densities of both atoms are significantly perturbed by the approach. As a consequence, the energy of the system is lowered and a restraining force acts against separation of the nuclei. Thus, the nuclei are constrained at a distance which is significantly less than the sum of the radii of the bare atoms. This description of a chemical bond fits rather well with the idea of a bond electron density accumulating between nuclei, introducing the concept of a relationship between the topology of the molecular electron density and the formation of chemical bonds. This chapter discusses intermolecular bonding, the decline of the intermolecular atom–atom bond, the Feynman–Ehrenfest chemical bond, Coulombic energy, polarisation energy, dispersion energy, repulsion energy, total energies and parameters, generation of crystal coordinates, systematic application of the Pixel theory to intermolecular bonding, glossary of intermolecular recognition modes, and directed bonds versus diffuse bonding.
Keywords: intermolecular bonding, chemical bonds, atom–atom bond, dispersion energy, Pixel theory, intermolecular recognition, repulsion energy, polarisation energy
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