Conformational Stereoisomerism in Cyclohexane

Three distinct conformational stereoisomers (conformers) can be recognized for cyclohexane: the chair, the boat, and thw twist boat. The boat is actually a metastable structure, representing the highest energy conformation on the path between the chair and the boat.

Here are the three structures in JMol windows:

The chair conformation

The boat conformation

The twist boat conformation

Interconversion occurs readily at room temperature, with energetics as shown here:

Below is a movie showing how these conformations interconvert.

Jmol animations

Show individual movie frames

Combining spin with animations can be useful


This page last modified 10:52 AM on Thursday September 17th, 2009.
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