Dependence of Bond Order and of Bond Energy Upon Bond Length

A simple inverse square relation of the form, N=aR−2+b,(where N is the bond order, R is the bond length, and a and b are constants characteristic of any given pair of atoms) has been found to agree satisfactorily with the available values for bond orders. For CC bonds a and b are found to have the values 6.80 and −1.71, respectively; for CN they are 6.48 and −2.00; for CO they are 5.75 and −1.85. The available data on bond energies suggest a relation of the same form, E=lR−2+m,between bond energy E and bond length R, where l and m represent the characteristic constants of a given atomic pair.