For an atom, an
orbital with principal quantum number greater than that of any occupied
orbital of the
ground state. For a molecular entity, a
molecular orbital which correlates with a Rydberg atomic
orbital in an atomic fragment produced by
dissociation. Typically, the extension of the Rydberg
orbital is large compared to the size of the atom or molecular entity.
Source:
PAC, 1996, 68, 2223
(Glossary of terms used in photochemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1996))
on page 2272
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A.Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.
