ISOLOBAL ANALOGY

Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras

1st March, 2017

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 WHAT IS ISOLOBAL ANALOGY?????
Roald Hoffmann described molecular fragments as
isolobal "if the number, symmetry properties, approximate
energy and shape of the frontier orbitals and the number
of electrons in them are similar – not identical, but
similar.”

One can predict the bonding and reactivity of a

Roald Hoffmann
lesser-known species from that of a better-known species (Nobel Prize-1981)
if the two molecular fragments have similar frontier
orbitals, the HOMO and the LUMO.

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CONSTRUCTION OF ISOLOBAL FRAGMENTS

Organic isolobal fragment

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CONSTRUCTION OF ISOLOBAL FRAGMENTS

Inorganic isolobal fragment

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ISOLOBAL ANALOGY : BRIDGES BETWEEN INORGANIC AND
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

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Comparison of frontier MOs

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Comparison of Valence electrons

No. of Valence electrons provided by a fragment for cluster bonding,

x = v+n-2 (for main group elements)
x = v+n-12 (for transition metals)

For examlpe: For {BH} fragment, x = 3+1-2 = 2

For {Fe(CO)3} fragment, x = 8+6-12 = 2

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Examples of Isolobal Analogy

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 Different Values of X
Group-6 Group-7 Group-8 Group-9 Group-10
Cr, Mo,W Mn, Tc, Re Fe, Ru ,Os Co, Rh, Ir Ni, Pd, Pt

M(CO)2 -2 -1 0 1 2

M(CO)3 0 1 2 3 4

M(CO)4 2 3 4 5 6

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Application of Isolobal Analogy

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Application of Isolobal Analogy

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 Conclusion
1. The isolobal analogy is a model. We can push this to several extremes,
and being a model it is bound to fail somewhere.
2. Still the pleasing aspect of this model is it brings together the entire
subfields of chemistry(Organic, Inorganic).
3. This model tells that underneath the seeming complexity in chemistry
there must be deep unity.
Reference: Nobel lecture, 8 December, 1981,By Roald Hoffman.

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