Effect of high pressure on crystal electronegativities of elements

The geometric electronegativities of univalent metals and halogens under high pressures were calculated by known methods. Electronegativities of metals increase monotonously with pressure and those of halogens exhibit, at first, a sharp decrease and then, after the pressure dissociation of the molecules, a slow increase. Thus, the ionicity of metal-halogen bonds diminishes with the increase of pressure and becomes zero at a certain pressure, which corresponds to the formation of metallic bonds. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.