Subject: Re: CCL:HYBRIDIZATION NOT "REAL";V. FOCK

From: [email-masked] (Alan Shusterman)
Date: 11 Sep 2000 10:50:14 PDT

Before people get too worked up about the "reality" of hybridization, they
might pause and enjoy this quote from Coulson's "Valence", p. 219, section 8.14
Status of hybridization:

"The previous discussion has brought out clearly the very wide context in which
hybridization seems to be relevant. We must not, however, allow ourselves to
believe that it represents any real 'phenomenon', any more than resonance
between different structures such as the covalent and ionic ones of a polar
bond may be called a 'phenomenon'. But we can at least say:

(a) that hybridization is the most efective way of preserving the concept of a
localized bond with perfect pairing of orbitals on the two atoms of the bond;

(b) that it is a restricted form of resonance, so that a residual resonance,
due to alternative schemes of pairing, still exists."

I don't see anything here to disagree with.

-Alan

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Alan Shusterman

Department of Chemistry

Reed College

Portland, OR 97202