One-electron bonds may be more common than chemists thought

Many chemical bonds could be better described as one-electron bonds. That’s according to researchers in Spain whose computational study identified situations where, rather than a pair of delocalised electrons, the bonding is driven by a single ‘active’ electron, while a second ‘spectator’ electron remains largely localised on one fragment. Examining simple systems conventionally described as covalent, ionic or dative, the team found evidence for one-electron bonds across all three categories. Challenging the widely held belief of electron pairs as the fundamental unit of bonding, researchers say the findings could redefine how we think about and teach chemical bonding. The team is keen to see researchers spanning inorganic chemistry and beyond put the perspective to the test.