The nature of the gallium-gallium triple bond

The characteristic of the triple bonding between gallium (Ga) atoms was determined through a theoretical analysis of a gallyne complex's model electronic structure and related molecules. The existence of the triple bond was doubted since the bond length was shorter than known Ga-Ga single bonds. It was observed that bent structures of model molecules contained triple bonds composed of two dative and a pi bond although the dative bonds in the molecules were weak. The nature of the chemical bond was determined mainly by the electronic structure and not by the molecular geometry.