On the nature of the positronic bond

Abstract

Recently it has been proposed that the positron, the anti-particle analog of the electron, is capable of forming an anti-matter bond in a composite system of two hydride anions and a positron [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 57, 8859 (2018)]. In order to dig into the nature of this novel bond the newly developed multi-component quantum theory of atoms in molecules is applied to this positronic system. The topological analysis reveals that this species is composed of two atoms in molecules, each containing a proton and half of the electronic and the positronic populations. Further analysis elucidates that the electron exchange phenomenon is virtually non-existent between the two atoms and no electronic covalent bond is conceivable in between. On the other hand, it is demonstrated that the positron density enclosed in each atom is capable of stabilizing interactions with the electron density of the neighboring atom. This electrostatic interaction suffices to make the whole system bonded against all dissociation channels. Thus, the positron indeed acts like an anti-matter glue between the two atoms.

References in corpus (3)

• Positron-molecule interactions: resonant attachment, annihilation, and bound states
• Hidden aspects of the Structural Theory of chemistry: The MC-QTAIM analysis reveals "alchemical" transformation from a triatomic to a diatomic structure
• Where to place the positive muon in the Periodic Table?

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• The three-center two-positron bond
• Many-body theory calculations of positronic-bonded molecular dianions
• The MC-QTAIM: A framework for extending the atoms in molecules analysis beyond purely electronic systems
• On the nature of the two-positron bond: Evidence for a novel bond type
• The MC-QTAIM analysis reveals an exotic bond in the coherently quantum superposed Malonaldehyde
• The conceptual and mathematical foundations of the MC-QTAIM
• The two-positron gluic bond as a manifestation of "super" van der Waals interactions