Recap: Molecular Orbitals and Common Misconceptions

Abstract

This chapter recapitulates the series of approximations that lead to the commonly used description of the electronic structure of molecules in terms of molecular orbitals (MOs), which in turn are usually expressed as linear combination of atomic orbital-like basis functions. Next, a number of common misconceptions about orbitals are discussed, such that the reader is aware of not only what electron orbitals are but also what they are not.