Generalized valence bond description of the ground states (X(1)Σg(+)) of homonuclear pnictogen diatomic molecules: N2, P2, and As2.

The ground state, X1Σg+, of N2 is a textbook example of a molecule with a triple bond consisting of one σ and two π bonds. This assignment, which is usually rationalized using molecular orbital (MO) theory, implicitly assumes that the spins of the three pairs of electrons involved in the bonds are singlet-coupled (perfect pairing). However, for a six-electron singlet state, there are five distinct ways to couple the electron spins. The generalized valence bond (GVB) wave function lifts this restriction, including all of the five spin functions for the six electrons involved in the bond. For N2, we find that the perfect pairing spin function is indeed dominant at Re but that it becomes progressively less so from N2 to P2 and As2. Although the perfect pairing spin function is still the most important spin function in P2, the importance of a quasi-atomic spin function, which singlet couples the spins of the electrons in the σ orbitals while high spin coupling those of the electrons in the π orbitals on each center, has significantly increased relative to N2 and, in As2, the perfect pairing and quasi-atomic spin couplings are on essentially the same footing. This change in the spin coupling of the electrons in the bonding orbitals down the periodic table may contribute to the rather dramatic decrease in the strengths of the Pn2 bonds from N2 to As2 as well as in the increase in their chemical reactivity and should be taken into account in more detailed analyses of the bond energies in these species. We also compare the spin coupling in N2 with that in C2, where the quasi-atomic spin coupling dominants around Re.