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In my textbook it is mentioned that maximum 3 covalent bonds can be formed within 2 atoms, which makes sense as 1 p orbital from each can be used for sigma bond and the remaining 2 can form pi bonds. But d subshell contains 5 d-orbitals, so why is it not possible to form 5 bonds?

I tried searching for it but couldn't find it anywhere

Zombie Killer
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    W2 and Mo2 form sextuple (6) bonds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextuple_bond – Poutnik Sep 28 '21 at 05:33
  • But anything more than 3 is rare. – Poutnik Sep 28 '21 at 06:22
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    Perhaps more importantly, anything more than 3 is impossible for carbon. – Ivan Neretin Sep 28 '21 at 06:58
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    https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/594/bonding-in-diatomic-c2-a-carbon-carbon-quadruple-bond https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/27532/what-would-follow-in-the-series-sigma-pi-and-delta-bonds – Mithoron Sep 28 '21 at 13:08
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    Unfortunately this question hinges on the definition of bond. And the whole concept of a bond is still very much debated and not clear at all. There's no point in going down this rabbit hole before some decent understanding of quantum mechanics. The carbon dimer is actually a nice point in case for this ongoing debate; I think we have a question for that. – Martin - マーチン Sep 28 '21 at 19:28

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