The whole story of the two-electron bond, with the delta bond as a paradigm.

It is shown that the delta bond, as found particularly in the Re(2)(6+) and Mo(2)(4+) cores of hundreds of compounds, provides a paradigm for the behavior of two-electron bonds of all types. By control of the angle of twist around the M-M axis, the strength of the bond can be systematically varied. By means of conventional electronic spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and two-photon excitation spectroscopy, the entire picture of the manifold of four states for two electrons bonding two atoms, as first described by Coulson and Fischer in 1949, has been confirmed.