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Symmetry in chemistry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2005

MAGDOLNA HARGITTAI  and
ISTVÁN HARGITTAI
MAGDOLNA HARGITTAI
Affiliation:
Structural Chemistry Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at Eötvös University, PO Box 32, H-1518 Budapest, Hungary
ISTVÁN HARGITTAI
Affiliation:
Institute of General and Analytical Chemistry, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, PO Box 91, H-1521 Budapest, Hungary. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Symmetry and chemistry have been in a fruitful interplay, initially in spectroscopy and crystallography, lately in more traditional domains of chemistry, such as reactivity and conformational analysis. A simple phenomenological approach suffices to get an idea about the symmetries of molecules whereas group theoretical approach greatly facilitates the understanding of molecular vibrations, electronic structure, and the mechanism of chemical reactions. In our discussion, the multi-level relationship between symmetry and chemistry is demonstrated by a sampler of examples, including the variations of symmetry of free molecules and molecular packing in crystals. Symmetry considerations continue to assist chemistry in systematizing and interpreting observations and also in discovering new reactions, molecules, and other materials.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Review , Volume 13 , Issue S2 , October 2005 , pp. 61 - 75
Copyright
© Academia Europaea 2005