Skip to main content

Questions tagged [symmetry]

The description of the symmetry present in molecules. Molecular symmetry is useful for explaining or predicting of a molecule's chemical properties.

29 votes
1 answer
105k views

What are t2g and eg in CFT?

In the crystal field theory (CFT), when the splitting of the d-orbital occurs, it gets divided into two parts. The upper part with higher energy is the $\mathrm{e_g}$ and the lower part with lower ...
1 vote
0 answers
48 views

electronic transition for polyenic molecules

I am having troubles with polyenes states symmetry. I found an exercise on the pentadien, where they ask us to analyze the symmetry of the singlet excited states corresponding to: State S1: π+ →π+ ...
12 votes
2 answers
4k views

How are there two C3 rotation axes in ammonia?

If we look at the character table for the $C_\mathrm{3v}$ point group (which $\ce{NH3}$ is an example of), we see that these are the symmetry elements ${E, 2 C_3, 3 \sigma_v}$ present in the molecule. ...
2 votes
1 answer
202 views

Procedure to assign the irreducible representation of a derivative operator

How can we assign an irreducible representation to a derivative operator like $\displaystyle\frac{\mathrm d}{\mathrm dx}$ or the whole gradient operator $\nabla$ in a given point group? Since the ...
2 votes
1 answer
265 views

Mathematical definition of a symmetry operator

I had a hard time understanding what it means to apply a symmetry operator to a function, so I wondered if there is a formal way to define this? As far as I understand, applying a symmetry operation ...
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

Whats the symmetric, anti-symmetric and non-symmetric part of the direct product of irreducible representations?

I am trying to understand how to see if a vibrational mode is Jahn-Teller active or not. According to the group theoretical description of the Jahn-Teller effect one needs to check if the symmetric ...
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Example of an achiral molecule without a plane of symmetry or inversion center?

Some websites, such as this textbook, mention how generally a plane of symmetry or inversion center in a molecule is enough to consider it achiral. Nonetheless, this source clarifies but if these ...
0 votes
0 answers
49 views

are the exact and kohn-sham electron densities totally symmetric?

For any molecule with open or closed shells considering the electronic state to be the ground state: Is the exact electron density totally symmetric? is the Kohn-Sham electron density totally ...
0 votes
3 answers
200 views

A question about rotational symmetry of organic molecules and in particular, the cyclic Isomers of C3H4X2

I was thinking about an organic chemistry problem a few days ago but reached a dead end. There were 2 parts to this question. The first was thinking about the isomers of 'C3H4X2' [where X could be ...
5 votes
0 answers
775 views

Optical activity of tartaric acid

The meso-form of tartaric acid is optically inactive due to the plane of symmetry. But how are these forms able to show optical activity when the σ-bonds can freely rotate, which can change the ...
1 vote
1 answer
6k views

How are these molecules chiral and achiral?

I always thought that a molecule couldn't be chiral if it had a plane of symmetry. Doesn't the chiral molecule here have symmetry diagonally across the OHs? The achiral one doesn't look symmetrical ...
2 votes
0 answers
59 views

Is there a better coordinate framework and symmetry operator for constructing molecular orbitals of molecules with higher-order geometry?

The following excerpt is taken from [1] (with a few rewording, emphasizes are mine). In an attempt to construct molecular orbital (MO) of any molecule, one needs to determine the symmetries of ...
1 vote
0 answers
202 views

Tetrahedral complex and vibronic coupling or different rule for d-d transition?

I'm currently preparing a few slides for an upcoming talk in our group. I would like to mention some of the very basics regarding crystal field and ligand field theory as well, though this will not be ...
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

Software for determining symmetry elements and point group of drawn molecules

The title represents my overall question. I would like to have a software that able to draw molecules (especially coordination complexes) and determine the symmetry elements and point group of the ...
3 votes
1 answer
157 views

Character table and symmetry operations

It's been a while since I've dealt with these, but do character tables include all possible symmetry operations? I am looking at the $D_\mathrm{\infty h}$ point group table and it lists $C_\infty$, $\...

15 30 50 per page
1
3 4
5
6 7
17