Encoding the core electrons with graph concepts

The core electron problem of atoms in chemical graph studies has always been considered as a minor problem. Usually, chemical graphs had to encode just a small set of second row atoms, i.e., C, N, O, and F, thus, graph and, in some cases, pseudograph concepts were enough to "graph" encode the molecules at hand. Molecular connectivity theory, together with its side-branch the electrotopological state, introduced two "ad hoc" algorithms for the core electrons of higher-row atoms based, mainly, on quantum concepts alike. Recently, complete graphs, and, especially, odd complete graphs have been introduced to encode the core electrons of higher-row atoms. By the aid of these types of graphs a double-valued algorithm has been proposed for the valence delta, deltav, of any type of atoms of the periodic table with a principal quantum number n > or =2. The new algorithm is centered on an invariant suggested by the hand-shaking theorem, and the values it gives rise to parallel in some way the values derived by the aid of the two old "quantum" algorithms. A thorough comparative analysis of the newly proposed algorithms has been undertaken for atoms of the group 1A-7A of the periodic table. This comparative study includes the electronegativity, the size of the atoms, the first ionization energy, and the electron affinity. The given algorithm has also been tested with sequential complete graphs, while the even complete graphs give rise to conceptual difficulties. QSAR/QSPR studies do not show a clear-cut preference for any of the two values the algorithm gives rise to, even if recent results seem to prefer one of the two values.