Abstract
The bond is central to modern chemistry’s understanding of the behaviour of matter, figuring in explanations of why chemical reactions happen, what their products are, and how much heat is generated or absorbed in the process. Molecular spectra arise from the vibrations and rotations of bonded groups of atoms. Chemistry provides a wealth of information about the properties and behaviour of individual bonds, and its applications of quantum mechanics offer deep theoretical insights into the structure and bonding of molecules. In this paper I trace the development of classical theories of chemical structure from the nineteenth century to G.N. Lewis. I then develop a structural view of the chemical bond within quantum mechanics, which identifies the chemical bond by its explanatory role within classical structure theory.
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Notes
- 1.
In the 1860s August Kekulé highlighted this issue by gathering nineteen competing formulae for acetic acid, nearly all of them inscrutable to the modern eye (see Brock 1992, 253 for a list).
- 2.
- 3.
Weisberg (2008) presents further challenges, and Stemwedel (2006) argues for the continued centrality of the classical bond to explanatory mechanisms in organic chemistry.
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Hendry, R.F. (2010). The Chemical Bond: Structure, Energy and Explanation. In: Suárez, M., Dorato, M., Rédei, M. (eds) EPSA Philosophical Issues in the Sciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3252-2_12
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