Page "Molecular orbital theory" Paragraph 7
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An example is the MO description of benzene,, which is composed of a hexagonal ring of six carbon atoms.
In this molecule, 24 of the 30 total valence bonding electrons are located in 12 σ ( sigma ) bonding orbitals, which are located mostly between pairs of atoms ( C-C or C-H ), similarly to the electrons in the valence bond description.
However, in benzene the remaining six bonding electrons are located in three π ( pi ) molecular bonding orbitals that are delocalized around the ring.
As in the VB theory, all of these six delocalized π electrons reside in a larger space that exists above and below the ring plane.
In MO theory this is a direct consequence of the fact that the three molecular π orbitals combine and evenly spread the extra six electrons over six carbon atoms.
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