How many antibonding orbitals are there in Benzene?

1 Answer
Mar 24, 2014

There are three antibonding orbitals in benzene.

The six atomic p orbitals combine to form six molecular #π# orbitals.

The three lowest orbitals #π_1#, #π_2#, and #π_3# are bonding orbitals. The six #π# electrons occupy these orbitals.

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The remaining orbitals #π_4^✳#, #π_5^✳#, and #π_6^✳# are antibonding orbitals. In the ground state of benzene, these orbitals are not occupied.