Valence Electron Rules for Compounds with Tetrahedral Structures and Anionic Tetrahedron Complexes

Abstract

For compounds with tetrahedral structure or anionic tetrahedron complex two valence electron concentration rules can be formulated which correlate the number of available valence electrons with particular features of the crystal structure. These two rules are known as the tetrahedral structure equation where the total valence electron concentration, VEC, is used as parameter and the generalized 8 - N rule where the parameter of interest is the partial valence electron concentration in respect to the anion, VECA. From the tetrahedral structure equation one can calculate the average number of non-bonding orbitals per atom and, in the case of non-cyclic molecular tetrahedral structures, the number of atoms in the molecule. An application of the generalized 8 - N rule allows the derivation of the average number of anion - anion bonds per anion or the number of valence electrons which remain with the cation to be used for cation - cation bonds and/or lone electron pairs. These rules have been used not only to predict probable structural features of unknown compounds but also to point out possible errors in composition or structure of known compounds.