Bent bond

The term itself is a general representation of electron density or configuration resembling a similar "bent" structure within small ring molecules, such as cyclopropane (C3H6) or as a representation of double or triple bonds within a compound that is an alternative to the sigma and pi bond model.

In cyclopropane, the maximum electron density between two carbon atoms does not correspond to the internuclear axis, hence the name bent bond.

This bending can be observed experimentally by X-ray diffraction of certain cyclopropane derivatives: the deformation density is outside the line of centers between the two carbon atoms.

[3] Two different explanations for the nature of double and triple covalent bonds in organic molecules were proposed in the 1930s.

We can construct the two equivalent bent bond orbitals h and h' by taking linear combinations h = c1σ + c2π and h' = c1σ – c2π for an appropriate choice of coefficients c1 and c2.

In a 1996 review, Kenneth B. Wiberg concluded that "although a conclusive statement cannot be made on the basis of the currently available information, it seems likely that we can continue to consider the σ/π and bent-bond descriptions of ethylene to be equivalent.