Energy Electronegativity and Chemical Bonding

Historical development of the concept of electronegativity (EN) and its significance and prospects for physical and structural chemistry are discussed. The current cutting-edge results are reviewed: new methods of determining the ENs of atoms in solid metals and of bond polarities and effective atomic charges in molecules and crystals. The ENs of nanosized elements are calculated for the first time, enabling us to understand their unusual reactivity, particularly the fixation of N(2) by nanodiamond. Bond polarities in fluorides are also determined for the first time, taking into account the peculiarities of the fluorine atom’s electronic structure and its electron affinity.