The electronic structure of xenon difluoride has been studied using ab initio theoretical methods. The primary goal was to determine whether current theoretical methods are capable of yielding a reasonable value of the dissociation energy of XeF2. A Slater function basis set of slightly better than "double [ plus polarization" quality was employed. Four different types of wave functions were investigated: two-configuration SCF, full valence configuration interaction (CI), the first-order wave function, and a larger 1234 configuration wave function including all double excitation from the loa, orbital. Although the TCSCF symmetric stretching potential curve has both a minimum and maximum, the minimum lies above the comparable energy of separated Xe + 2F. However, the two most complete wave functions predict dissociation energies of 1.97 and 2.14 e", in qualitative agreement with experiment, 2.78 eV. All four wave functions provide good predictions of the Xe-F equilibrium bond distance. As was the case for KrF2, the bonding in XeF2 is found to conform quite closely to Coulson's model F Xe+ F--F-Xe+ F near the equilibrium geometry, The role of the "outer orbitals" 5d and 4f appears to be a quantitative rather than qualitative one.Xenon difluoride appears to be the simplest known Xecontaining molecule, although there is still some controversy2 concerning the existence of the XeF radical. As such, XeF2 plays a special role in the chemistry of the noble gases.' XeF2 was first prepared4 in 1962, shortly after Bartlett's discovery5 of XePtF6, and several relatively simple methods of preparation are now a~a i l a b l e .~ The dissociation energy for the process XeF2 -Xe + 2F is -64 kcal/mo16 = 2.78 eV. Assuming the value' 38.8 f 2.3 kcal/mol for the dissociation energy De of F2, the molecular dissociation energy for the process XeF2 -Xe + F2 is found to be -25 kcal/mol. For comparison, the smaller KrF2 molecule is known to lie energetically aboue (by -15 kcal/mol) the analogous dissociation limit Kr + F2. This difference between KrF2 and XeF2 explains the transient nature of the former as compared to the relative stability of the latter. The geometrical structure of XeF2 is known from infrared and Raman studies to be linear and ~y m m e t r i c ,~ corresponding to point group Dmh. Reichman and Schreinerg have determined the gas-phase Xe-F bond distance to be 1.977 f 0.002