Chair of cyclohexane

The frequency factor and enthalpy of activation for the inversion of the chair of cyclohexane, as below, are important quantities and as a result several laboratories have pursued this problem to arrive, after some controversies, at a solution. 

The hydrogen atoms in the more stable conformation (chair) of cyclohexane fall into two geometrical classes equatorial (e) which encircle the approximate plane of carbon atoms, and axial (a), for which the C—H bonds parallel the threefold axis of symmetry (6, 22). Substituents prefer to take equatorial positions, the energy difference for a methyl group is about 1.8 cal. mole and for i-butyl 5.6 cal. mole (2S). 

Which of conformations (Fig. 7.f) is more stable the boat or chair of cyclohexane CeHi2 How do particular conformations look in detail (symmetry, interatomic distances, bond angles), when the electronic energy as a function of the positions of the nuclei attains a minimum value What wiU be the most stable conformation of the trimer C Hi j-(CH2)3-... 

Figure A3.6.11. Viscosity dependence of transmission coefficient of the rate of cyclohexane chair-boat inversion in liquid solution (data from [100]).

Staggered arrangement of bonds in chair conformation of cyclohexane... 

FIGURE 3 14 (a) A ball and spoke model and (b) a space filling model of the boat confor mation of cyclohexane Torsional strain from eclipsed bonds and van der Waals strain involving the flagpole hydrogens (red) make the boat less stable than the chair... 

The various conformations of cyclohexane are m rapid equilibrium with one another but at any moment almost all of the molecules exist m the chair conformation Not more than one or two molecules per thousand are present m the skew boat confer matron Thus the discussion of cyclohexane conformational analysis that follows focuses exclusively on the chair conformation... 

Ring inversion in methylcyclohexane differs from that of cyclohexane m that the two chair conformations are not equivalent In one chair the methyl group is axial m the other It IS equatorial At room temperature approximately 95% of the molecules of methylcyclohexane are m the chair conformation that has an equatorial methyl group whereas only 5% of the molecules have an axial methyl group... 

Section 3 7 Three conformations of cyclohexane have approximately tetrahedral angles at carbon the chair the boat and the skew boat The chair is by far the most stable it is free of torsional strain but the boat and skew boat are not When a cyclohexane ring is present m a compound it almost always adopts a chair conformation... 

The C—H bonds in the chair conformation of cyclohexane are not all equivalent but are divided into two sets of six each called axial and equatorial... 

Conformational inversion (ring flipping) is rapid in cyclohexane and causes all axial bonds to become equatorial and vice versa As a result a monosubstituted derivative of cyclohexane adopts the chair conforma tion in which the substituent is equatorial (see next section) No bonds are made or broken in this process... 

One property of NMR spectroscopy is that it is too slow a technique to see the mdi vidual conformations of cyclohexane What NMR sees is the average environment of the protons Because chair-chair mterconversion m cyclohexane converts each axial pro ton to an equatorial one and vice versa the average environments of all the protons are the same A single peak is observed that has a chemical shift midway between the true chemical shifts of the axial and the equatorial protons... 

Axial bond (Section 3 8) A bond to a carbon in the chair conformation of cyclohexane oriented like the six up and down bonds in the following... 

Ring inversion (Section 3 9) Process by which a chair conforma tion of cyclohexane is converted to a mirror image chair All of the equatonal substituents become axial and vice versa Also called ring flipping or chair-chair interconversion... 

The 12 hydrogen atoms of cyclohexane do not occupy equivalent positions. In the chair conformation six hydrogen atoms are perpendicular to the average plane of the molecule and six are directed outward from the ring, slightly above or below the molecular plane (see Fig. 1.6). Bonds which are perpendicular to the molecular plane are known as axial bonds, and those which extend outward... 

FIGURE 1.6 The two chair conformations of cyclohexane a = axial hydrogen atom and e = equatorial hydrogen atom. 

Stereochemistry. Cyclohexane can exist ia two molecular conformations the chair and boat forms. Conversion from one conformation to the other iavolves rotations about carbon—carbon single bonds. Energy barriers associated with this type of rotation are low and transition from one form to the other is rapid. The predominant stereochemistry of cyclohexane has no influence ia its use as a raw material for nylon manufacture or as a solvent. 

The most stable conformation of cyclohexane is the chair. Electron diffraction studies in the gas phase reveal a slight flattening of the chair compared with the geometry obtained when tetrahedral molecular models are used. The torsion angles are 55.9°, compared with 60° for the ideal chair conformation, and the axial C—H bonds are not perfectly parallel but are oriented outward by about 7°. The length of the C—C bonds is 1.528 A, the length of the C—H bonds is 1.119 A, and the C—C—C angles are 111.05°. ... 

Make a molecular model of the chair conformation of cyclohexane, and turn it so that you can look down one of the C—C bonds. 

Other substituted cyclohexanes are similar- to methylcyclohexane. Two chair confonnations exist in rapid equilibrium, and the one in which the substituent is equatorial is more stable. The relative fflnounts of the two confor-rnations depend on the effective size of the substituent. The size of a substituent, in the context of cyclohexane confor-rnations, is related to the degree of branching at the atom connected to the ring. A single... 

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