Talk:Trimethylphosphine

The explanation given for the less s-p hybridization in phosphines than amines given: "The latter is a common feature of the chemistry of phosphorus because the gap between the 3s and 3p orbital is large compared to the corresponding gap for the 2s and 2p orbitals that are in the valence shell for carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen" is one that is repeated often when the subject arises. It is contradicted by experimental data (see: https://www.nist.gov/pml/atomic-spectra-database). The lowest state for the s2p3 configuration lies about 88,000 cm-1 below the lowest state for the sp4 configuration for nitrogen. For phosphorus, the lowest state for the s2p3 configuration lies 59,750 cm-1 below the lowest state for the sp4 configuration. In other words, the gap is larger for nitrogen. Gadolinist (talk) 22:25, 6 October 2017 (UTC)Gadolinist