In
chemistry, pi bonds (π bonds) are
covalent chemical bonds where two lobes of one involved electron
orbital overlap two lobes of the other involved electron orbital. Only one of the orbital's nodal planes passes through both of the involved
nuclei. The Greek letter π in their name refers to
p orbitals, since the orbital symmetry of the pi bond is the same as that of the p orbital when seen down the bond axis. P orbitals usually engage in this sort of bonding. However, d orbitals can engage in pi bonding also.Pi bonds are usually weaker than
sigma bonds because their (negatively charged) electron density is further from the positive charge of the
atomic nucleus, which requires more energy. From the perspective of
quantum mechanics, this bond weakness is explained by significantly less overlap between the component p-orbitals due to their parallel orientation.
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