Question

Why is o2+ more stable than o2 even when o2+ has fractional bond order?

Answer 1

On the atomic level, bond order is the number of bonded electron pairs between two atoms. In diatomic nitrogen (N≡N), for instance, the bond order is 3 because there are 3 chemical bonds linking the two nitrogen atoms. In molecular orbital theory, bond order is also defined as half of the difference between the number of bonding and antibonding electrons. For a straightforward answer: use this formula: Bond order = [(Number of electrons in bonding molecules) - (Number of electrons in antibonding molecules)]/2.[1]