Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry

HOMO: Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital. The highest energy molecular orbital containing an electron pair.


Label
Orbital
    Occupancy   


π4*
Unoccupied

π3*
Unoccupied
LUMO
π2

HOMO
π1


The pi molecular orbitals of 1,3-butadiene. This molecule has four pi electrons. In its ground state, π1 and π2 each contain two electrons, and π3* and π4* are unoccupied. π2 is the HOMO and π3* is the LUMO.