Square pyramidal geometry describes the shape of certain
chemical compound
A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...
s with the formula where L is a
ligand
In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule with a functional group that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's el ...
. If the ligand atoms were connected, the resulting shape would be that of a
pyramid with a square base. The
point group symmetry
In group theory, the symmetry group of a geometric object is the group of all transformations under which the object is invariant, endowed with the group operation of composition. Such a transformation is an invertible mapping of the ambient ...
involved is of type C
4v. The geometry is common for certain
main group
In chemistry and atomic physics, the main group is the group of elements (sometimes called the representative elements) whose lightest members are represented by helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine as arran ...
compounds that have a
stereochemically-active
lone pair
In chemistry, a lone pair refers to a pair of valence electrons that are not shared with another atom in a covalent bondIUPAC ''Gold Book'' definition''lone (electron) pair''/ref> and is sometimes called an unshared pair or non-bonding pair. Lone ...
, as described by
VSEPR theory
Valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory ( , ) is a conceptual model, model used in chemistry to predict the geometry of individual molecules from the number of electron pairs surrounding their central atoms. It is also named the Gill ...
. Certain compounds
crystallize
Crystallization is a process that leads to solids with highly organized atoms or molecules, i.e. a crystal. The ordered nature of a crystalline solid can be contrasted with amorphous solids in which atoms or molecules lack regular organization ...
in both the trigonal bipyramidal and the square pyramidal structures, notably .
As a transition state in Berry pseudorotation
As a
trigonal bipyramidal
In chemistry, a trigonal bipyramid formation is a molecular geometry with one atom at the center and 5 more atoms at the corners of a triangular bipyramid. This is one geometry for which the bond angles surrounding the central atom are not identi ...
molecule undergoes
Berry pseudorotation
The Berry mechanism, or Berry pseudorotation mechanism, is a type of vibration causing molecules of certain geometries to isomerize by exchanging the two axial ligands (see the figure) for two of the equatorial ones. It is the most widely accepte ...
, it proceeds via an intermediary stage with the square pyramidal geometry. Thus even though the geometry is rarely seen as the ground state, it is accessed by a low energy distortion from a trigonal bipyramid.
Pseudorotation also occurs in square pyramidal molecules. Molecules with this geometry, as opposed to trigonal bipyramidal, exhibit heavier vibration. The mechanism used is similar to the Berry mechanism.
Examples
Some molecular compounds that adopt square pyramidal geometry are XeOF
4, and various
halogen
The halogens () are a group in the periodic table consisting of six chemically related elements: fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), iodine (I), and the radioactive elements astatine (At) and tennessine (Ts), though some authors would ...
pentafluorides (XF
5, where X = Cl, Br, I).
Complexes of
vanadium
Vanadium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an ...
(IV), such as
vanadyl acetylacetonate
Vanadyl acetylacetonate is the chemical compound with the chemical formula, formula VO(acac)2, where acac– is the conjugate base of acetylacetone. It is a blue-green solid that dissolves in polar organic solvents. The complex (chemistry), coordin ...
,
O(acac)2 are square pyramidal (acac = acetylacetonate, the deprotonated anion of
acetylacetone
Acetylacetone is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is classified as a 1,3-diketone. It exists in equilibrium with a tautomer . The mixture is a colorless liquid. These tautomers interconvert so rapidly under most conditions that ...
(2,4-pentanedione)).
See also
*
AXE method
Valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory ( , ) is a conceptual model, model used in chemistry to predict the geometry of individual molecules from the number of electron pairs surrounding their central atoms. It is also named the Gill ...
*
Square pyramid
In geometry, a square pyramid is a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid with a square base and four triangles, having a total of five faces. If the Apex (geometry), apex of the pyramid is directly above the center of the square, it is a ''right square p ...
*
Hypervalent molecule
In chemistry, a hypervalent molecule (the phenomenon is sometimes colloquially known as expanded octet) is a molecule that contains one or more main group elements apparently bearing more than eight electrons in their valence shells. Phosphorus ...
*
Molecular geometry
Molecular geometry is the three-dimensional arrangement of the atoms that constitute a molecule. It includes the general shape of the molecule as well as bond lengths, bond angles, torsional angles and any other geometrical parameters that det ...
References
External links
Chem, Chemistry, Structures, and 3D Molecules Indiana University Molecular Structure Center
{{MolecularGeometry
Molecular geometry