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Triplet oxygen, 3 O 2, refers to the S = 1 electronic ground state of molecular oxygen (dioxygen). Molecules of triplet oxygen contain two unpaired electrons, making triplet oxygen an unusual example of a stable and commonly encountered diradical : [ 2 ] it is more stable as a triplet than a singlet .
Aerobic organisms use atmospheric dioxygen as the terminal oxidant in cellular respiration in order to obtain chemical energy. The ground state of dioxygen is known as triplet oxygen, 3 [O 2], because it has two unpaired electrons. The first excited state, singlet oxygen, 1 [O 2], has no unpaired electrons and is metastable.
As in diboron, these two unpaired electrons have the same spin in the ground state, which is a paramagnetic diradical triplet oxygen. The first excited state has both HOMO electrons paired in one orbital with opposite spins, and is known as singlet oxygen. MO diagram of dioxygen triplet ground state
In the ground state of dioxygen, this energy level is occupied by two electrons of the same spin, as shown in the molecular orbital diagram. The molecule, therefore, has two unpaired electrons and is in a triplet state. In contrast, the first and second excited states of dioxygen are both states of singlet oxygen. Each has two electrons of ...
An electron configuration with two unpaired electrons, as is found in dioxygen orbitals (see the filled π* orbitals in the diagram) that are of equal energy—i.e., degenerate—is a configuration termed a spin triplet state. Hence, the ground state of the O 2 molecule is referred to as triplet oxygen.
This state is referred to by the title term, singlet oxygen, commonly abbreviated 1 O 2, to distinguish it from the triplet ground state molecule, 3 O 2. [2] [3] Molecular orbital theory predicts the electronic ground state denoted by the molecular term symbol 3 Σ – g, and two low-lying excited singlet states with term symbols 1 Δ g and 1 ...
[6] [7] This paper predicted a triplet ground state for the dioxygen molecule which explained its paramagnetism [8] (see Molecular orbital diagram § Dioxygen) before valence bond theory, which came up with its own explanation in 1931. [9] The word orbital was introduced by Mulliken in 1932. [5]
Here [Ne] refers to the core electrons which are the same as for the element neon (Ne), the last noble gas before phosphorus in the periodic table. The valence electrons (here 3s 2 3p 3) are written explicitly for all atoms. Electron configurations of elements beyond hassium (element 108) have never been measured; predictions are used below.