Chapter 5, Problem 5.8P

a. Prepare a molecular orbital energy-level diagram for the cyanide ion. Use sketches toshow clearly how the atomic orbitals interact to form MOs.
b. What is the bond order for cyanide, and how many unpaired electrons does cyanide have?
c. Which molecular orbital of ${\text{CN}}^{-}$ would you predict to interact most strongly with a hydrogenis orbital to form an $\text{H}—\text{C}$ bond in the reaction ${\text{CN}}^{-}+{\text{H}}^{+}\to \text{HCN}$ ? Explain.