Electron-pair bonding in real space. Is the charge-shift family supported?†
Abstract
Charge-shift bonding (CSB) has been introduced as a distinct third family of electron-pair links that adds to the covalent and ionic tradition. However, the full battery of orbital invariant tools provided by modern real space artillery shows that it is difficult to find CSB signatures outside the original valence-bond framework in which CSB was developed. The CSB concept should therefore be further investigated.