Non-bonding orbital
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Non-bonding_orbital".

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008)

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2008)

This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. WikiProject Chemistry or the Chemistry Portal may be able to help recruit one. If a more appropriate WikiProject or portal exists, please adjust this template accordingly. (September 2008)

A non-bonding orbital is an orbital that neither increases nor decreases the bond order between the relevant atoms. They are "bonding neutral", rather than "pro-bonding" or anti-bonding. More informally, the electrons in that orbital aren't sufficiently "between" the atoms to "glue" them together effectively. They also aren't so far out on the fringes that they destabilize the molecule either (by letting the positively charged nuclei "see each other" and repel). Think of the lone pairs in Lewis structures as an analogy.

This chemistry article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.