How many pi bonds are in CO_2CO2?

1 Answer
Dylan K.
Dec 6, 2016

2 piπ bonds

Let's consider the lewis structure of CO_2CO2, and we can consult our molecular orbital manifold between the bonding species if need be.

Explanation:

For CO_2CO2 we have:
enter image source here

We know that sigmaσ bonds form for single bonds (including dative bonds), and that the piπ bonds will be all of the bonds which form thereafter.

Counting the bonds within the species, I see two piπ bond, and two sigmaσ bond.

Let's place the electron between the bonding oxygen and central atom carbon in our molecular orbital manifold:
enter image source here

Notice how the electron from both species, distributed into the manifold are colored red - can you count the number of piπ bond that are present within the manifold? I see one piπ bond within the manifold - and the manifold is done for exactly half of the symmetrical species. So, noting that the other half of the species will follow the same configuration - we can deduce that there are 2 piπ bond in the CO_2CO2 species.

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