Benzene, Trends and Patterns

Benzene Chemistry

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  • Created by: Manal
  • Created on: 11-05-10 23:37

The bonding and structure of benzene was a puzzle for a long time because:

  • Benzene was more stable than expected.
  • Reacted to substitution than addition.
  • All the carbon atoms were equivalent, which implied that all the carbon-carbon bonds are the same.

Structure and Bonding of Benzene

  • The carbon atoms are bonded by alpha-bond.
  • Molecular ordital shaped like a doughnut, above and below the ring, extending over all six carbon atoms.
  • This has been made by the overlap of p-orbital-one from each carbon atom.
  • The electrons in this orbital are delocalised and form a pie-orbital.
  • Delocalisation means electrons are spread over more than two atoms-in this case the six carbon atoms that form the ring.
  • Each carbon atom has 3 electrons making it an intermediate between a single and a double bond.
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