In the boron trihalides, , the length of the B-X bonds (1.30 Å) is shorter than would be expected for single bonds, and this shortness may indicate stronger B-X ?-bonding in the fluoride. A facile explanation invokes the symmetry-allowed overlap of a p orbital on the boron atom with the in-phase combination of the three similarly oriented p orbitals on fluorine atoms. Others point to the ionic nature of the bonds in .

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