Absolute electronegativity and hardness correlated with molecular orbital theory

Abstract

The concepts of absolute electronegativity, chi, and absolute hardness, eta, are incorporated into molecular orbital theory. A graphic and concise definition of hardness is given as twice the energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. Useful correlations can now be made between chemical behavior, visible-UV absorption spectra, optical polarizability, ionization potentials, and electron affinities.