Pi-Bonding: a Chemist’s view of Pi Day

March 14 is pi day, i.e. 3/14. But to a chemist, a particular geometry of bonding comes to mind when we hear the word “pi”. Pi-bonding refers to a “sideways” sharing of electrons, and it leads to important modes of reactivity in organic synthesis, in biochemistry, industrial chemistry and nanotechnology. We’ll talk about the basics of bonding, how pi-bonding leads to representations of electron-dolecalization in organic molecules, which types of atoms participate in pi-bonding, and applications. In the spirit of the day, this talk is brought to you by the letter pi and the number pi.

Presented by Dr. Michael J. Shaw (he/him)