On the Role of d Orbital Hybridization in the Chemistry Curriculum

Abstract

Modern valence bond theory has been used to enforce sp3d2 hybridization in SF6. Alternative bonding schemes with no d-orbital contribution are presented and yield lower total energies in agreement with previous studies discounting the role of sp3d2 hybrid orbitals. Therefore, the use of d-orbital hybridization to describe hypervalent molecules should be removed from the general chemistry curriculum. Instead, bonding in SF6 can serve as a good example of the role of theory in chemistry, nicely illustrating that no theory provides all the right answers all the time. More detailed valence bond and molecular orbital descriptions can be reserved for advanced courses. A more in depth look at SF6 highlights the similarities between molecular orbital and valence bond theories and the importance of resonance mixing of covalent and ionic valence bond structures as well as fragment orbital mixing in order to make delocalized molecular orbitals.