Which Species is Most Likely to Exist According to Molecular Orbital Theory?

[ultimateguy]

According to molecular orbital theory, which of the following species is the most likely to exist?

a) H_{2}^{-2}
b) He_{2}
c) Li_{2}
d) Li_{2}^{-2}
e) Be_{2}

I think the answer is c), due to it having a bond order of 1, but I just wanted to make sure.

 

[GCT]

The point here is probably to have you assess the respective diatomic compound given form (e.g. ion with a 2- charge) with other possibly more stable electron counts. For instance if you find that H2 is more stable then H2-, then there's an incentive to browse some of the other choices.

 

[Gokul43201]

According to molecular orbital theory, which of the following species is the most likely to exist?

a) H_{2}^{-2}
b) He_{2}
c) Li_{2}
d) Li_{2}^{-2}
e) Be_{2}

I think the answer is c), due to it having a bond order of 1, but I just wanted to make sure.

That's correct. All the others have bond order 0.