Further VSEPRing about molecular geometries

Ronald J. Gillespie’s valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) model has been very successful in research and education within rather well-defined domains of inorganic compounds for predicting molecular shapes and variations in structural features. Considerations of non-bonded interactions have extended its applicability in the realm of smaller central atoms and larger ligands. The structure of xenon hexafluoride played a pivotal role in convincing the doubters of the validity and utility of the model in the early days of its history. Curiously, whereas most of the molecular structures of noble-gas compounds have been excellent examples of the VSEPR model, xenon hexafluoride represents a more involved case. Its structure is still not known in full, but currently it is not known at a much higher level of sophistication than before.