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The Nature of the Chemical Bond in BeF- and Related Species
1Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry , National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , Panepistimiopolis , Athens 15771 , Greece.
Abstract:
The beryllium atom represents a curiosity. Its ground state valency is zero, so it should not form chemical bonds. Nevertheless Be is a metal and can form stable chemical species largely due to the participation of its excited 3P (2s12p1) state as shown in the cases of Be2 and Be3. BeF- is a stable ( D0 ≥ 81.4 kcal/mol) closed shell molecule that has been studied experimentally quite recently. Although it dissociates adiabatically to two closed shell atoms, Be (1S) and F-(1S), the bonding is due to the excited 3P (2s12p1) and 1D (2p2) Be states.
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