Pi Bonds break

[Ian_Lee_1E]

Hello,

Professor mentioned that Pi bonds can break when the central atoms rotate.

Are there any cases when they do rotate and what is the cause of their rotation?

[Abby Lam 3F]

I think they rotate when you break the bond through some sort of chemical experiment, probably like boiling something.

[Nicole Huang 3F]

I don't think pi bonds can rotate without that pi bond breaking because a pi bond is formed in a parallel fashion, so rotating it would destroy that parallel orientation that we see as a characteristic of pi bonds.

[Margaret Wang 2D]

I don't think there are any exceptions to this because pi bonds are parallel and any sort of rotation would break them.

[Inderpal Singh 2L]

I do not believe there would be any exceptions to this, however, I would seek further clarification.

[Jagveer 1I]

In the textbook it was mentioned that for a molecule to rotate about the double bond, the π-bond would need to first break and then re-form. So, I believe that this is the only way that the central atom can rotate with π-bonds.

[Vanshika Bhushan 1A]

Molecules joined by a pi bond cannot rotate about that bond without breaking the pi bond, because rotation involves destroying the parallel orientation of the p orbitals.

[Faith Lee 2L]

Pi bonds are characterized by their side-to-side overlap, which results in extreme rigidity. I don't know of any exceptions to the fact that attempting to move pi-bonded atoms independently of each other would cause the bond to break.

[Brian Bui 3H]

With pi bonds, I believe individual atoms cannot rotate for the reasons stated above. However, the entire molecule as a whole (or parts connected by pi bonds) can rotate, but have to do so together or else the pi bond(s) will break.