Past exam of the chemistry A course of the University of Cambridge 2023 Paper 1 A5 b ii Solution 2026-10-20
The nitrogen pair and the four-carbon set are separately invariant under the D2h point group. Construct symmetry-adapted linear combinations within these two sets; mixing equivalent representations across the sets is left for the Hückel method calculation.
For the nitrogen atomic orbitals, normalized combinations areFor the carbon atomic orbitals, takeThese six functions are orthonormal under the zero-overlap assumption. The suffixes describe coefficient patterns across the carbon sites; the sign acquired by each underlying function must also be included when assigning an irreducible representation. In particular, reflection through the molecular plane changes the sign of every function, while inversion sends to . Ignoring that orbital sign would give incorrect labels.
The complete group representation is thereforeThe diagram shows all six ring symmetry-adapted linear combinations and the resulting energy ordering used in part (iii).
Past exam of the chemistry A course of the University of Cambridge 2023 Paper 1 A5 b i Solution 2026-10-20
Pyrazine belongs to , the D2h point group. With the printed axes, its three twofold axes are ; it also has an inversion centre and the three coordinate mirror planes. The nitrogen atoms occupy sites 1 and 4 on the axis. Interchanging carbon and nitrogen is not a molecular symmetry operation, so the sixfold benzene symmetry is lost.
Past exam of the chemistry A course of the University of Cambridge 2025 Paper 1 A5 a Solution 2026-10-20
The planar para-quinone framework has three mutually perpendicular twofold axes, inversion through its centre, and the associated mirror planes. With horizontal, along the two C=O bonds and perpendicular to the molecule, it belongs to the D2h point group, .
Pyrazine 2026-10-20
A planar six-membered aromatic ring with nitrogen at opposite ring sites. Its molecular point group is the D2h point group. The six ring atomic orbitals form a six-electron conjugated system; the in-plane nitrogen lone pairs are outside this basis.
