Structure and Bonding in Group 14 Congeners of Ethene: DFT Calculations in the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory

A computational chemistry experiment for an advanced inorganic chemistry laboratory is described. DFT calculations are performed to determine the optimized geometries of compounds of the type H 2 E=EH 2 . Structural parameters are compared for E=C, Si, and Ge. Guided inquiry into the nature of the bonding and energetics of E=E bond dissociation are pursued by examining the singlet and triplet EH 2 fragments.