According to molecular orbital theory, what is the bond order of the hypofluorite ion, OF^-?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To determine the bond order using molecular orbital theory, we need to first draw the molecular orbital diagram for the hypofluorite ion. This is a complex process that involves calculating the number of valence electrons, determining the symmetries of the atomic orbitals, and calculating the overlap integrals between them.

The end result is a diagram that shows the energies and symmetries of the molecular orbitals formed from the atomic orbitals. In this case, we would expect to see three occupied molecular orbitals (OMOs) and two unoccupied molecular orbitals (UMOs).

The bond order is given by the difference between the number of electrons in the bonding OMOs and the number of electrons in the antibonding OMOs, divided by 2. In the case of hypofluorite ion, we have:

Bonding OMOs: sigma bond between oxygen and sulfur, sigma bond between sulfur and fluorine, pi bond between sulfur and fluorine (3 electrons total)
Antibonding OMOs: sigma* bond between oxygen and sulfur, sigma* bond between sulfur and fluorine (2 electrons total)

Therefore, the bond order is:

(3 - 2)/2 = 0.5

However, we need to take into account the fact that the hypofluorite ion is a radical species, meaning it has an unpaired electron. This unpaired electron will occupy the pi* antibonding orbital, resulting in a bond order of:

(3 - 3)/2 = 0

This means that there is no net bond between the oxygen and sulfur atoms in the hypofluorite ion, and the answer is:

Answer: C (0)

According to Molecular Orbital Theory, What Is the Bond Order