[rpirrie]

Hello--
I am a high school chemistry teacher. I am aware that hypervalence used to be explained by hybridization with d orbitals. I understand that the explanation has moved away from this and towards a high electron density near the ligands. So, I tell my kids that the fluorine achieves stability, but the sulfur is happy too as its stability is increased by "revealing the full shell below the 6 valence electrons". I like this lesson because it lets them know that "octet is not king"--its really about achieving stability and that even the term hypervalency is a misnomer because it assumes that you somehow crowd extra electrons into the valent level, when its really the fluorines pulling them away.

So, here's the question--am I helping the students with this lesson? Or am I barking up the wrong tree? Would anyone like to suggest any refinements? Thanks much.