Empirical relationships relating bond lengths to the corresponding bond stretching frequencies or bond stretching force constants were first derived in 1920s (see Table 4.1 for a summary) and have ever since been a topic of research on the nature of the chemical bond . It is remarkable that in a time of easily accessible quantum chemical results, there remains a need for empirically based estimates of either bond lengths or stretching frequencies. There are three primary reasons why such empirical rules and relationships are still valuable tools for modern research:(1) Established relationships between bond properties add to our understanding of the chemical bond, especially if they can be rationalized on a quantum mechanical basis because bonding between atoms is a quantum mechanical phenomenon.(2) There are experimental situations in which it is relatively easy to measure one bond property but difficult to obtain other bond properties. For example, it is easier to measure the vibrational spectra of a compound than to carry out a structural analysis. This is especially true for solid materials that do not crystallize, molecules on a surface, or molecules in some form of aggregation. If quantum chemical calculations are feasible only for model systems rather than the actual targets of chemical research, then vibrational spectroscopy may be the only tool for obtaining information that provides an insight into bond properties. (3) In the realm of computational chemistry, there is also a need for empirical relationships. They may be used to determine suitable bonding force fields for molecular mechanics utilizing force constant -bond length relationships. For quantum chemical geometry optimization, there is the need to set up a guess matrix of energy second derivatives (the Hessian matrix corresponding to the force constant matrix of a molecule), which is best done with the help of available geometry information and a suitable force constant -bond length relationship. For example, the standard procedure to calculate the geometry of a molecule is based on an initial guess of the energy Hessian derived with the help of the Badger rule [42,55]. It is due to these three reasons that there is ongoing research exploring the relationships between bond length r, bond stretching Computational Spectroscopy: Methods, Experiments and Applications. Edited by J€ org Grunenberg