Abstract
IT is known that nitric oxide is an interesting case of a three-electron bond. Taking the x-axis along the line of centres, the isolated atoms may be described as: 
The molecular orbital description of the molecule is then1: 
The two electrons in the MO (σ2p
x) form a σ bond, the four in (π2p
y), (π2p
z)—degenerate orbitals—form π bonds, whereas the remaining single electron in (π*2p
z) is antibonding.
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References
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NARASIMHA RAO, D. Molecular Quadrupole Moment of Nitric Oxide. Nature 186, 881–882 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/186881a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/186881a0
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