Providing the quantum-mechanical foundations of chemical bonding, this unique textbook emphasizes key concepts such as superposition, degeneracy of states and the role of the electron spin. These quantum mechanical notions are usually oversimplified or meticulously circumvented in other books, to the frustration of serious readers who want to understand, for example, why two protons can be stably bound with only one electron to make the simplest molecule H 2 +. An initial, concise and compact presentation of the rudiments of quantum mechanics enables readers to progress through the book with a firm grounding. Experimental examples are included to illustrate how the abstract concepts are manifest in real systems.

Provides a quantum-mechanical understanding of the formation of chemical bands The theory is proved by a comparative discussion of experimental results

Inhalt
1 The Electron: A Primadonna in Chemical Bonding.- 2 Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics: A Prerequisite for Understanding the Chemical Bond.- 3 One-Electron Atoms: The Fundamental System.- 4 Multi-Electron Atoms: The Building Blocks that Produce the Tremendous Variety of Molecules.- 5 Born-Oppenheimer Approximation: Separation of Electronic Motion from Nuclear Motion in Chemical Bonding.- 6 The Hydrogen Molecular Ion: The Simplest, but the Most Fundamental System for Understanding Chemical Bonds.- 7 The Hydrogen Molecule: Why are Two Neutral Hydrogen Atoms Stabilized by Simply Approaching Each Other?.- 8 Polyatomic Molecules: Towards an Understanding of Chemical Bonds in Polyatomic Molecules.- References.