The 3-center 4-electron (3c–4e) bond is a model used to explain bonding in certain hypervalent molecules such as tetratomic and hexatomic interhalogen compounds, sulfur tetrafluoride, the xenon fluorides, and the bifluoride ion.[1][2] It is also known as the Pimentel–Rundle three-center model after the work published by George C. Pimentel in 1951,[3] which built on concepts developed earlier by Robert E. Rundle for electron-deficient bonding.[4][5] An extended version of this model is used to describe the whole class of hypervalent molecules such as phosphorus pentafluoride and sulfur hexafluoride as well as multi-center π-bonding such as ozone and sulfur trioxide.
There are also molecules such as diborane (B2H6) and dialane (Al2H6) which have three-center two-electron bond (3c-2e) bonds.