Spartan Lab Questions:
1. Discuss the trend in homonuclear double bond energies goingdown Group 14. Use the HOMO‑LUMO gaps that you have determined tofacilitate your discussion. Are there significant differences inthe MO diagrams for ethene and digermene?
2. Compare the HOMOs and LUMOs of ethane and digermene. Whatdoes the distribution of electron density tell you about theorbitals?
3. Simple alkenes are colorless, but disilenes and digermenesare intensely colored. Explain.
4. All isolated disilenes, digermenes and distannenes have verylarge substituents, such as t-butyl or TMSgroups.[1] How do large substituents lend 4.greater stability to these compounds?
5. What evidence do the authors in reference 6 give thatdemonstrates just how weak the “double†bonds in heavier analogs ofethane are?
6. How does the symmetric stretching frequency relate to bondstrength?
7. Recently, the first ever compound with a Si-Si triple bondwas structurally characterized.[2] Contraryto what is observed for alkynes, the compound displays a nonlinearR-Si-Si-R geometry. Based on your findings in lab, is this asurprise? Rationalize the bonding using a simple valence bondmodel.
please answer any that you can!
