p Molecular Orbitals
of Ethylene (H2C=CH2)
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p*2
The LUMO (Lowest Unoccupied Molecular
Orbital)
is a
p* antibonding orbital.
It has two nodes, the molecular plane and the perpendicular plane between
the out-of-phase orbital lobes. This orbital is unoccupied in the
ground state, and the bond order is -1. Recall that bond order =
(# of orbital overlaps in phase) - (# of overlaps out of phase).
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p1
The HOMO (Highest
Occupied
Molecular
Orbital)
is a p bonding orbital. It contains a
pair of p electrons, has one node (the molecular
plane) and a bond order of 1.
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