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Pictures are Crucial: Intuition, Electronic Structure, and Reactions in Materials Chemistry

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Computational Materials, Chemistry, and Biochemistry: From Bold Initiatives to the Last Mile

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Materials Science ((SSMATERIALS,volume 284))

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Abstract

In this chapter, I will describe how I have found the concepts of the valence bond description of chemical bonding essential in several materials chemistry research programs I have participated in. I learned these ideas from Bill Goddard early on in my scientific education, and they have been constant intellectual companions. An intuition about how electronic structures change as atoms move is a great boon to a synthesis chemist when designing and exploiting new chemical reactions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Michael L. Steigerwald

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  1. Michael L. Steigerwald
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Correspondence to Michael L. Steigerwald .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Sadasivan Shankar

  2. Center for Computing Research, Sandia National Labs, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Richard Muller

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Thom Dunning

  4. Department of Chemistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Guan Hua Chen

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Steigerwald, M.L. (2021). Pictures are Crucial: Intuition, Electronic Structure, and Reactions in Materials Chemistry. In: Shankar, S., Muller, R., Dunning, T., Chen, G.H. (eds) Computational Materials, Chemistry, and Biochemistry: From Bold Initiatives to the Last Mile. Springer Series in Materials Science, vol 284. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18778-1_12

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