MO theory

[JosephLew3C]

When switching from O2 to O2 2+ on an MO diagram the result which produces the higher bond order is the more the stable molecule correct?

[Eunnie_Lee_3H]

Higher bond orders generally mean more stability, yes, and whatever you calculate to be your bond order generally seems to correspond to a type of bond (meaning, 0=no bond, 1=single bond, 2=double bond, 3=triple bond, though you can have bond orders of 1.5, 2.5, etc, so you can see why higher bond orders usually create more stable bonds, since they're stronger bonds).

[Jazmin_Morales_3J]

How is it possible to have bond orders of 1.5, 2.5, etc? Does it have anything to do with resonance structures?

[Skolli20]

Yes, I'm pretty sure that having a bond order that is fractional means that it has do something with a resonance structure. For example, Ozone would have a bond order of 1.5 meaning that it's the average of a double and a single bond.