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Providing the quantum-mechanical foundations of chemical bonding, this unique textbook emphasizes key concepts such as superposition, degeneracy of states and the role of the electron spin. These quantum mechanical notions are usually oversimplified or meticulously circumvented in other books, to the frustration of serious readers who want to understand, for example, why two protons can be stably bound with only one electron to make the simplest molecule H2+. An initial, concise and compact presentation of the rudiments of quantum mechanics enables readers to progress through the book with a firm grounding. Experimental examples are included to illustrate how the abstract concepts are manifest in real systems.
List of contents
1 The Electron: A Primadonna in Chemical Bonding.- 2 Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics: A Prerequisite for Understanding the Chemical Bond.- 3 One-Electron Atoms: The Fundamental System.- 4 Multi-Electron Atoms: The Building Blocks that Produce the Tremendous Variety of Molecules.- 5 Born-Oppenheimer Approximation: Separation of Electronic Motion from Nuclear Motion in Chemical Bonding.- 6 The Hydrogen Molecular Ion: The Simplest, but the Most Fundamental System for Understanding Chemical Bonds.- 7 The Hydrogen Molecule: Why are Two Neutral Hydrogen Atoms Stabilized by Simply Approaching Each Other?.- 8 Polyatomic Molecules: Towards an Understanding of Chemical Bonds in Polyatomic Molecules.- References.
Summary
Providing the quantum-mechanical foundations of chemical bonding, this unique textbook emphasizes key concepts such as superposition, degeneracy of states and the role of the electron spin. These quantum mechanical notions are usually oversimplified or meticulously circumvented in other books, to the frustration of serious readers who want to understand, for example, why two protons can be stably bound with only one electron to make the simplest molecule H2+. An initial, concise and compact presentation of the rudiments of quantum mechanics enables readers to progress through the book with a firm grounding. Experimental examples are included to illustrate how the abstract concepts are manifest in real systems.
Additional text
From the reviews:
“The text opens with a quick review of the electron and electronic properties. … The book ends with a good list of references for further study. … this is a classic treatment of quantum mechanics applied to chemical bonding. … is accessible to advanced undergraduate students, students who have had a junior-level physical chemistry class that emphasized techniques and methods for solving the Schrödinger equation will get the greatest benefit from it.” (Andrew J. Pounds, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 82 (7), July, 2005)
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From the reviews:
"The text opens with a quick review of the electron and electronic properties. ... The book ends with a good list of references for further study. ... this is a classic treatment of quantum mechanics applied to chemical bonding. ... is accessible to advanced undergraduate students, students who have had a junior-level physical chemistry class that emphasized techniques and methods for solving the Schrödinger equation will get the greatest benefit from it." (Andrew J. Pounds, Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 82 (7), July, 2005)
