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Another look at bonds and bonding

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Abstract

Because electrostatic flux does not depend on the location of the charges it links, it is independent of the quantum mechanical charge distribution in a molecule. By identifying a chemical bond with the electrostatic flux linking an atom’s core to its valence charge, one can generate a purely classical model of chemical bonding. The resulting bond flux model shows that the chemical bond is a classical, not a quantum, concept. It makes no distinction between covalent and ionic bonds, but provides quantitative insights into chemical structure and properties that complement those of quantum theory.

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  1. Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4M1, Canada

    David Brown

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  1. David Brown
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Correspondence to David Brown.

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Brown, D. Another look at bonds and bonding. Struct Chem 31, 1–5 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11224-019-01433-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11224-019-01433-7

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