LUMO Full Form

LUMO Full Form

Edited By Team Careers360 | Updated on Jan 05, 2023 05:36 PM IST

What is the full form of LUMO ?

The LUMO stands for lowest unoccupied molecular orbital that can accept electrons, hence it works as an electron acceptor and represents the molecule's receptivity to nucleophilic attack.

HOMO and LUMO are molecular orbitals in chemistry. The abbreviations stand for highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. HOMO and LUMO are sometimes referred to as the border orbitals, as in frontier molecular orbital theory.

HOMO-LUMO Gap

The HOMO-LUMO gap is the energy differential between HOMO and LUMO. Its size can be used to forecast transition metal complexes' strength and stability, as well as the colours they create in solution. The wider the HOMO-LUMO gap of a compound, the more stable the compound.

Difference Between Homo and Lumo

HOMO and LUMO are sometimes collectively called the frontier orbitals, such as in the frontier molecular orbital theory.

LUMO

HOMO

The LUMO can receive electrons.

The HOMO can donate electrons.

The presence of LUMO is characteristic for electrophiles.

The presence of HOMO is characteristic for nucleophiles while.

Has high energy

Has lower energy

Has no electrons, thus are unoccupied.

Has weakly bound electrons, thus are occupied.

Applications of Lumo

  • In organometallic chemistry, the size of the LUMO lobe can help determine where addition to pi ligands will occur.

  • The energy of the HOMO-LUMO gap can reveal information about the wavelengths that the molecule can absorb. Alternatively, measuring the wavelengths absorbed by a molecule in the lab can be used to calculate the HOMO-LUMO gap.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can LUMO have electrons?

The boundary MOs are known as the HOMO and LUMO. HOMO stands for Highest Occupied MO, which is the highest-energy MO with electrons. LUMO stands for Lowest Unoccupied MO, which is the lowest-energy MO with no electrons.

2. Can LUMO be non bonding?

Even though electrons are present in the orbitals, no electron density exists between the two hydrogen atoms. As a result, it does not promote bond formation but rather seeks to cleave the bond. This is known as an anti-bonding orbital (LUMO).

3. Is LUMO always Antibonding?

Molecule bonding is referred to as HOMO and LUMO. These are also known as bonding orbitals and antibonding orbitals: the HOMO participates in bonding orbitals, whereas the LUMO participates in anti-bonding orbitals.

4. What is the Lumo of 1, 3 Butadiene?

There are four pi electrons in this molecule. In their ground state, π1 and π2 each have two electrons, while  π3* and π4* are vacant. The HOMO is π2 and the LUMO is π3*.

5. Why do electron withdrawing groups lower the LUMO?

An electron-donating group introduces extra electrons into the system, increasing electron-electron repulsion (or decreases the effective nuclear charge). As a result, the HOMO and LUMO energies rise. An electron-drawing group removes electrons, lowering the HOMO and LUMO energies.

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