Electronic structure of the phosphonitrilic trimer?role ofd orbitals in chemical bonding

Abstract

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations were performed on a series of phosphazene trimer molecules to elucidate the electronic structure of these systems. The role of the d orbitals was analyzed from comparison of the molecular orbital contour calculations performed both with and without d orbitals in a split valence basis set description. The results indicate that, although the major geometric aspects of these systems can be described without invoking the use of d orbitals, these orbitals are essential to properly describe the electronic structure. The d orbital involvement in out-of-plane π bonding contains elements of both the classical Craig, Paddock, and Mitchell [1–3] and Dewar et al. [4] bonding schemes; the d orbital effects on in-plane bonding modes are also substantial. The charge distribution in these systems is best described as a zwitterionic form, because a significant amount of charge accumulates on the ring nitrogens.