Ligand close packing and the geometry of the fluorides of the nonmetals of periods 3, 4, and 5.

This paper discusses the geometry of the fluorides of the nonmetals of periods 3, 4, and 5 in terms of the ligand close packing (LCP) model according to which molecular geometry is determined primarily by ligand−ligand repulsions (Pauli closed shell repulsions) rather than by the bonding and lone pair Pauli repulsions of the VSEPR model. The LCP model becomes the dominant factor in determing geometry when the ligands are sufficiently crowded that they may be regarded as essentially incompressible. Ligand close packing is a modification of the VSEPR model in which ligand−ligand repulsion (Pauli closed shell repulsion) is given more emphasis than bonding and nonbonding electron pair Pauli repulsion. The nonmetals of period 3 are large enough to form octahedral six coordinated molecules in which the ligands are close packed. The larger nonmetals of period 4 also have a maximum coordination number of six and an octahedral geometry although the ligands are not close packed. Ligand radii derived from the interl...