A Bonding Model for Anomalous Water

Abstract

THERE is considerable current interest in the possible existence of a new form of water reported by Deryagin¹, not only because of the universal presence of water, but also because it would almost certainly require a new type of chemical bond. The oldest and simplest schematic representation of the electronic distribution in molecules is the dot diagrams of Lewis², and the usefulness of this description has been greatly enhanced by Linnett's³ replacement of a single dot by the two symbols, “x” and “o”. These correspond to the two different electron spin states and accommodate the independent effects of charge and spin correlation. The possibility of delocalizing a pair of electrons with opposite spins, not recognized by Lewis, makes a significant contribution to the hypothesized bonding scheme given here. Models such as this cannot predict whether or not the new material exists nor can they uniquely point to the most probable structure, but their inherent simplicity and suggestive pictorial description can be a very powerful aid in interpreting experiments.