Electron transfer (chemistry)

Not to be confused with transfer (electronic).

La electronic transfer in magnetochemical and quantum chemistry can be understood as the process through which an electron passes from an orbital A{displaystyle Psi _{A}} centered on an A atom to an orbital B{displaystyle Psi _{B}} focused on an atom B. Something more rigorously, it looks like an interaction between orbitals A{displaystyle Psi _{A}} and B{displaystyle Psi _{B}}which gives rise to orbitals +{displaystyle Psi _{+}} ("linking") and − − {displaystyle Psi _{-}} ("anti-linking").

If the symmetric combination is the ground state, the effect is essentially that of a bond between atoms A and B, with the caveats that it will be a much weaker bond than usual, and that it will be a one-electron bond, as opposed to to the usual ones, which are bielectronic. If the combination of antisymmetric orbitals is the one with the lowest energy, we have the opposite phenomenon, an antibonding, (weak and monoelectronic).

Electronic transfer is a phenomenon of great relevance in mixed valence compounds, that is, those in which it is not possible to define a clear oxidation state for two or more atoms, and in which it is more appropriate to think of an intermediate oxidation state.