Significant 6d involvement is expected in the Nh–Au bond, although it is expected to be more unstable than the Tl–Au bond and entirely due to magnetic interactions. This raises the possibility of some transition metal character for nihonium. On the basis of the small energy gap between the 6d and 7s electrons, the higher oxidation states +3 and +5 have been suggested for nihonium. Some simple compounds with nihonium in the +3 oxidation state would be the trihydride (NhH3), trifluoride (NhF3), and trichloride (NhCl3). These molecules are predicted to be T-shaped and not trigonal planar as their boron analogues are: this is due to the influence of the 6d5/2 electrons on the bonding. The heavier nihonium tribromide (NhBr3) and triiodide (NhI3) are trigonal planar due to the increased steric repulsion between the peripheral atoms; accordingly, they do not show significant 6d involvement in their bonding, though the large 7s–7p energy gap means that they show reduced sp2 hybridisation compared to their boron analogues.
significant 6d involvement is expected in the nh–au bond although it is expected to be more unstable than the tl–au bond and entirely due to magnetic interactions this raises the possibility of some transition metal character for nihonium on the basis of the small energy gap between the 6d and 7s electrons the higher oxidation states +3 and +5 have been suggested for nihonium some simple compounds with nihonium in the +3 oxidation state would be the trihydride (nhh3) trifluoride (nhf3) and trichloride (nhcl3) these molecules are predicted to be t-shaped and not trigonal planar as their boron analogues are this is due to the influence of the 6d5/2 electrons on the bonding the heavier nihonium tribromide (nhbr3) and triiodide (nhi3) are trigonal planar due to the increased steric repulsion between the peripheral atoms; accordingly they do not show significant 6d involvement in their bonding though the large 7s–7p energy gap means that they show reduced sp2 hybridisation compared to their boron analogues