MOLECULAR SYMMETRY, GROUP THEORY, &

MOLECULAR SYMMETRY, GROUP THEORY, & APPLICATIONS
Lecturer: Claire Vallance (CRL office G9, phone 75179, e-mail claire.vallance@chem.ox.ac.uk)
These are the lecture notes for the second year general chemistry course named ‘Symmetry I’ in the course outline. They contain everything in the lecture slides, along with some additional information. You should, of course, feel free to make your own notes during the lectures if you want to as well. If anyone would desperately like a copy of the lecture slides, e-mail me at the end of the course and I’ll send you one (the file is about 2MB in size).
At some point after each lecture and before the next, I STRONGLY recommend that you read the relevant sections of the lecture handout in order to consolidate the material from the previous lecture and refresh your memory. Most people (including me!) find group theory quite challenging the first time they encounter it, and you will probably find it difficult to absorb everything on the first go in the lectures without doing any additional reading. The good news is that a little extra effort on your part as we go along should easily prevent you from getting hopelessly lost!
If you have questions at any point, please feel free to ask them either during or after the lectures, or contact me by e-mail or in the department (contact details above).
Below is a (by no means comprehensive) list of some textbooks you may find useful for the course. If none of these appeal, have a look in your college library, the Hooke library or the RSL until you find one that suits you.
Atkins - Physical Chemistry Atkins - Molecular Quantum Mechanics Ogden – Introduction to Molecular Symmetry (Oxford Chemistry Primer) Cotton – Chemical Applications of Group Theory Davidson – Group Theory for Chemists Kettle – Symmetry and Structure Shriver, Atkins and Langford – Inorganic Chemistry Alan Vincent – Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory (Wiley)
Also, to get you started, here are a few useful websites. I’m sure there are many more, and if you find any others you think I should include, please e-mail me and let me know so I can alert future generations of second years.
http://www.reciprocalnet.org/edumodules/symmetry/intro.html (a good tutorial on point groups and some aspects of symmetry and group theory, with lots of 3D molecular structures for you to play with)
http://www.chemistry.nmsu.edu/studntres/chem639/symmetry/group.html (a helpful applet providing character tables and reduction of representations, which you’ll know all about by about lecture 5 of this course)
NOTE: A PROBLEM SHEET IS ATTACHED TO THE END OF THIS HANDOUT
Contents
1.
Introduction
2.
Symmetry operations and symmetry elements
3.
Symmetry classification of molecules – point groups
4.
Symmetry and physical properties
4.1.
Polarity
4.2.
Chirality
5.
Combining symmetry operations: ‘group multiplication’
6.
Constructing higher groups from simpler groups
7.
Mathematical definition of a group
8.
Review of Matrices
8.1.
Definitions
8.2.
Matrix algebra
8.3
Direct products
8.4.
Inverse matrices and determinants
9.
Transformation matrices
10.
Matrix representations of groups
10.1.
Example: a matrix representation of the C3v point group (the ammonia molecule)
10.2.
Example: a matrix representation of the C2v point group (the allyl radical)
11.
Properties of matrix representations
11.1.
Similarity transforms
11.2.
Characters of representations
12.
Reduction of representations I
13.
Irreducible representations and symmetry species
14.
Character tables
15.
Reduction of representations II
15.1
General concepts of orthogonality
15.2
Orthogonality relationships in group theory
15.3
Using the LOT to determine the irreps spanned by a basis
16.
Symmetry adapted linear combinations
17.
Determining whether an integral can be non-zero
18.
Bonding in diatomics
19.
Bonding in polyatomics - constructing molecular orbitals from SALCs
20.
Calculating the orbital energies and expansion coefficients
21.
Solving the secular equations
21.1
Matrix formulation of a set of linear equations
21.2
Solving for the orbital energies and expansion coefficients
22.
Summary of the steps involved in constructing molecular orbitals
23.
A more complicated bonding example – the molecular orbitals of H2O
23.1
Matrix representation, characters and SALCs
24.
Molecular vibrations
24.1
Molecular degrees of freedom – determining the number of normal vibrational modes
24.2
Determining the symmetries of molecular motions
24.3
Atomic displacements using the 3N Cartesian basis
24.4
Molecular vibrations using internal coordinates
25.
Summary of applying group theory to molecular motions
26.
Group theory and molecular electronic states
27.
Spectroscopy – interaction of atoms and molecules with light
27.1
Electronic transitions in molecules
27.2
Vibrational transitions in molecules
27.3
Raman scattering
28.
Summary
29.
Appendix A – a few proofs for the mathematically inclined
30.
Appendix B – Character tables and direct product tables
Problem sheet
3

1.
Introduction
You will already be familiar with the concept of symmetry in an everyday sense. If we say something is ‘symmetrical’, we usually mean it has mirror symmetry, or ‘left-right’ symmetry, and would look the same if viewed in a mirror. Symmetry is also very important in chemistry. Some molecules are clearly ‘more symmetrical’ than others, but what consequences does this have, if any? The aim of this course is to provide a systematic treatment of symmetry in chemical systems within the mathematical framework known as group theory(the reason for the name will become apparent later on). Once we have classified the symmetry of a molecule, group theory provides a powerful set of tools that provide us with considerable insight into many of its chemical and physical properties. Some applications of group theory that will be covered in this course include:


i) Predicting whether a given molecule will be chiral, or polar.
ii) Examining chemical bonding and visualising molecular orbitals.
iii) Predicting whether a molecule may absorb light of a given polarisation, and which spectroscopic
transitions may be excited if it does.
iv) Investigating the vibrational motions of the molecule.


You may well meet some of these topics again, possibly in more detail, in later courses (notably Symmetry II, and for the more mathematically inclined amongst you, Supplementary Quantum Mechanics). However, they will be introduced here to give you a fairly broad introduction to the capabilities and applications of group theory once we have worked through the basic principles and ‘machinery’ of the theory.
2.
Symmetry operations and symmetry elements
A symmetry operation is an action that leaves an object looking the same after it has been carried out. For example, if we take a molecule of water and rotate it by 180° about an axis passing through the central O atom (between the two H atoms) it will look the same as before. It will also look the same if we reflect it through either of two mirror planes, as shown in the figure below.
reflection
rotation
reflection
(operation) (operation) (operation)
axis of symmetry
(element) mirror plane
(element) mirror plane(element)
Each symmetry operation has a corresponding symmetry element, which is the axis, plane, line or point with respect to which the symmetry operation is carried out. The symmetry element consists of all the points that stay in the same place when the symmetry operation is performed. In a rotation, the line of points that stay in the same place constitute a symmetry axis; in a reflection the points that remain unchanged make up a plane of symmetry. The symmetry elements that a molecule may possess are:
1.
E - the identity. The identity operation consists of doing nothing, and the corresponding symmetry element is the entire molecule. Every molecule has at least this element.
2.
Cn - an n-fold axis of rotation. Rotation by 360°/n leaves the molecule unchanged. The H2O molecule above has a C2 axis. Some molecules have more than one Cn axis, in which case the one with the highest value of n is called the principal axis. Note that by convention rotations are counterclockwise about the axis.
3.
σ - a plane of symmetry. Reflection in the plane leaves the molecule looking the same. In a molecule that also has an axis of symmetry, a mirror plane that includes the axis is called a vertical mirror plane and is labelled σv, while one perpendicular to the axis is called a horizontal mirror plane and is labelled σh. A vertical mirror plane that bisects the angle between two C2 axes is called a dihedral mirror plane, σd.
4.
i - a centre of symmetry. Inversion through the centre of symmetry leaves the molecule unchanged. Inversion consists of passing each point through the centre of inversion and out to the same distance on the other side of the molecule. An example of a molecule with a centre of inversion is shown below.
5.
Sn - an n-fold improper rotation axis (also called a rotary-reflection axis). The rotary reflection operation consists of rotating through an angle 360°/n about the axis, followed by reflecting in a plane perpendicular to the axis. Note that S1 is the same as reflection and S2 is the same as inversion. The molecule shown above has two S2 axes.
The identity E and rotations Cn are symmetry operations that could actually be carried out on a molecule. For this reason they are called proper symmetry operations. Reflections, inversions and improper rotations can only be imagined (it is not actually possible to turn a molecule into its mirror image or to invert it without some fairly drastic rearrangement of chemical bonds) and as such, are termed improper symmetry operations.
A note on axis definitions: Conventionally, when imposing a set of Cartesian axes on a molecule (as we will need