octahedral

Octahedral

Molecules with 6 VSEPR pairs adopt an octahedral VSEPR shape.

Bond pairs in the six equivalent positions of the octahedral structure of AX6 all have X-A-X angles of 90. SF6 is an example of a molecule with this structure.

In octahedral structures, all of the positions are equivalent. When one position is occupied by a lone pair, the second lone pair will be located on the opposite side of the square plane, on the same axis, in order to maximize the separation between the lone pairs.

The single lone pair in molecules with the octahedral VSEPR shape AX5E, such as ICl5, occupies one of six equivalent positions, producing a square pyramidal molecular shape.

XeF4 is an example of an AX4E2 system. The two lone pairs are on opposite sides of the square plane, maximizing their spatial separation in the VSEPR octahedral shape. The molecular shape is square planar.

Notice that there are no examples of molecules with AX2E4 or AX3E3 VSEPR formulae. These shapes have not been observed experimentally.