Figure 5. Interchange of Apical and Equatorial Atoms in Pentagonal Bipyramidal Molecules

A: Calculated Ground State Structure for IF7
Viewing tools:
Impose a red/orange/blue color scheme to follow the atoms undergoing exchange:
Begin and stay equatorial red
Begin equatorial and become Apical orange
Begin Apical and become equatorial blue
Calculated Transition State
Viewing Tools:
Tools to View the (Bartell) Exchange Mechanism
  1. Displacement
  2. then
    Compare to A
  3. View one Cycle of the Vibration:
    Compare final point (b) to B. Step 4 is almost the full motion: A to B
  4. then select:
  5. Turnstile Character: or
  6. Berry-like character:
  7. Lever character:
B: Calculated Ground State Structure for IF7
Viewing tools:
Impose a red/orange/blue color scheme to follow the atoms undergoing exchange:
Begin and stay equatorial red
Begin equatorial and become Apical orange
Begin Apical and become equatorial blue