Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry
HOMO: H
ighest
O
ccupied
M
olecular
O
rbital
. The highest energy
molecular orbital
containing an electron pair.
Label
Orbital
Occupancy
π
4
*
Unoccupied
π
3
*
Unoccupied
LUMO
π
2
HOMO
π
1
The
pi
molecular orbitals
of
1,3-butadiene
. This molecule has four
pi electrons
. In its
ground state
,
π
1
and
π
2
each contain two electrons, and
π
3
*
and
π
4
*
are unoccupied.
π
2
is the HOMO and
π
3
*
is the
LUMO
.
Related terms:
SOMO
,
HOMO-LUMO gap
,
conjugation
,
orbital
,
s
orbital
,
p
orbital
,
p
x
orbital,
p
y
orbital
,
p
z
orbital
,
hybrid orbital
,
sp
3
orbital
,
sp
2
orbital
,
sp
orbital
,
bonding molecular orbital
,
nonbonding molecular orbital
,
antibonding molecular orbital
,
sigma orbital
,
σ orbital
,
sigma* orbital
,
σ* orbital
,
pi orbital
,
π orbital
,
pi* orbital
,
π* orbital
,
orbital electronegativity
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