Hypothetical chemical compound heat of formation ... can be used to determine whether a hypothetical compound is stable." However, "a negative formation enthalpy does not automatically imply the existence of a hypothetical compound." The method predicts that NaCl is stable but NeCl is not. It predicted XePtF based on the stability of OPtF. Hypothetical chemical compound A hypothetical chemical compound is a chemical compound that has been conceived of, but is not known to have been synthesized, observed, or isolated (identified or shown to exist). Some hypothetical compounds cannot form at all. Others might turn out to be highly unstable, decomposing, isomerizing, polymerizing,
Hypothetical chemical compound Hypothetical chemical compound A hypothetical chemical compound is a chemical compound that has been conceived of, but is not known to have been synthesized, observed, or isolated (identified or shown to exist). Some hypothetical compounds cannot form at all. Others might turn out to be highly unstable, decomposing, isomerizing, polymerizing, rearranging, or disproportionating. Some are thought to exist only briefly as reactive intermediates, or in vacuum (helium hydride ion...). Some cannot hold together due to steric hindrance (tetra-"tert"-butylmethane) or bond stress (tetrahedrane...). Some have no known pathway for synthesis (hypercubane...). Some "parent compounds" have not been or cannot be isolated,