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Odd molecule
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Odd_molecule".
Odd molecule is a term invented by Gilbert N. Lewis in 1916 for a molecule containing an odd number of electrons.
Taking the p-shell elements, such molecules are rare; they are usually colored and paramagnetic, that is, attracted by a magnet.
Odd molecules are 'radicals.'
A fine example is nitric oxide, q.v.; nitrogen dioxide is another; chlorine dioxide is also an example, being a reddish-yellow gas. They are all fairly reactive.
When including d-shell elements, i.e., the transition metals, the concept mostly doesn't apply, and this 'odd' state is not so unusual.
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