The Bond-Valence Method: An Empirical Approach to Chemical Structure and Bonding

This chapter describes a simple but powerful approach to predicting the structure and properties of complex solids and liquids. It is based on studies of large numbers of crystal structures and the empirical concepts of chemical bond and atomic valence. The valence of an atom is assumed to be distributed between the bonds it forms. The resulting bond valences correlate well with bond lengths and other bond properties. Bond valences determined from experimentally measured bond lengths are used to calculate atomic valences, which can be used in a number of ways to help in the determination and evaluation of crystal structures. The properties of bond valences lead to a structure-based scale of Lewis acid and base strength that can be used to predict which structures are likely to be stable and what bonding topologies these might have. In many of these cases, a detailed prediction of bond lengths and bond angles is possible. © 1981, ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.