Conformational isomerism is a type of stereoisomerism whereby the isomers are interconverted by rotations about the single bonds. There be terms used below such as eclipsed conformation, staggered conformation,dihedral angle and a few more. Eclipsed conformation is the conformation whereby the C-H bonds on one carbon is directly aligned with the C-H bonds of the adjacent carbon. When the C-H bond of one carbon bisects the H-C-H bond on the adjacent carbon, it is known as staggered conformation. Dihedral angle is the angle which separates the the bond on carbon atom from another bond of the adjacent atom. The conformer is each possible structure of the isomerism. Conformational analysis is defined as the analysis of changes of …show more content…
The boat conformation is flexible. The boat conformation is able to relieve some of its torsional strain by flexing to a new form which is the twist. That is how it got the name twist boat conformation. At the same time, the flexibility of the boat conformation enable it to reduce the flagpole interactions. The twist boat conformation of cyclohexane has lower energy than the pure boat conformation. Even so, it is not as stable as flip chair conformation.
CONFORMATIONAL ANALYSIS OF MONO- AND DI-SUBSTITUTED CYCLOHEXANES
Previously, it has been discussed that the chair conformation of cyclohexane is the most stable one. There are two distinct orientations for the bonds that project from the ring of the chair conformation of cyclohexane ring. Those positions are called as axial and equatorial which are shown in Figure …show more content…
The cis-trans isomerism are also stereoisomers because they only differ in the arrangement of their atoms in space from each other. A cis and trans-disubstitued cyclohexane can be identified by looking at the position of the substituents attached to. For trans, one of the substituents is connected by an upper bond and the other one by lower bond whereas, for cis, both the substituents are connected either by upper bonds or lower bonds. An example of di-substituted cyclohexanes is 1,4-dimethylcyclohexane. 1,4-dimethylcyclohexane can exist as trans 1,4-dimethylcyclohexane and also as cis