What is the Lewis Dot Structure for Mg_2^+?

1 Answer
Feb 4, 2017

If I were to take you literally, it would be a rather unstable cation...

["Mg"cdots"Mg"]^(+)
(the dots are an interaction line for a half-bond, not electrons)

Its MO diagram would have one less valence electron than that for "Mg"_2 (presumed in the gas phase!). This is the MO diagram for the NEUTRAL "Mg"_2 dimer:

Take one valence electron out of the antibonding sigma_(3s)^"*", and we have a bond order that changed from 1/2(2 - 2) = 0 to 1/2(2 - 1) = 1/2.

Thus, MO theory suggests that "Mg"_2^(+) is more stable than "Mg"_2.


If you mean "Mg"^(2+), it has no valence electrons, so there is not much of a Lewis dot structure to draw... in fact, we have already "drawn" it by writing its chemical symbol and charge.