Abstract
The discovery of X-ray diffraction promised to resolve the mystery of molecular structure, but a hundred years on it is fast receding into the fourth dimension. The contemporary development of quantum mechanics performed no better. It introduced, without explanation the notion of non-commuting dynamic variables, described by complex functions, failed to account for electron spin or optical activity and still appears to be at odds with special relativity. The confusion starts with Maxwell’s formulation of the electromagnetic field, interpreted differently in quantum and relativity theories, and grows with the chemical practice of reducing complex quantum functions to real classical variables. This leaves the nature of a single molecule’s structure undefined—neither classical nor non-classical.
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Notes
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Some science writers even claim that the molecular products of chemical reactions can be predicted quantum-chemically.
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Boeyens, J.C.A. (2013). Of Electrons and Molecules. In: The Chemistry of Matter Waves. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7578-7_1
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