Molecular Orbital Construction from Fragment Orbitals

The practical aspects of perturbation molecular orbital theory can be illustrated further by constructing the orbitals of simple molecular systems. While being illustrative in their own right, the level patterns are the representatives of several of the orbital patterns. The chapter illustrates the typical ways that molecular orbitals can be constructed from the orbitals of smaller fragments. The molecules examined in this chapter have the common feature that all the atoms of the molecule are identical, and each contributes one atomic orbital. Its virtue lies in the simple way that the fragment orbitals overlap and consequently interact with each other.