CONFORMATIONS OF ALKANES AND CYCLOALKANES

Structures A, B, and C represent different conformations of hydrogen peroxide. Conformations are different spatial arrangements of a molecule that are generated by rotation about single bonds. Although we can t tell from simply looking at these structures, we now know from experimental studies that C is the most stable conformation. 

Learning By Modeling contains an animation showing the rotation about the 0—0 boncJ in hycJrogen peroxicJe. 

In this chapter we ll examine the conformations of various alkanes and cycloalkanes, focusing most of our attention on three of them ethane, butane, and cyclohexane. A detailed study of even these three will take us a long way toward understanding the main ideas of conformational analysis. 

The conformation of a molecule affects many of its properties. Conformational analysis is a tool used not only by chemists but also by researchers in the life sciences as they attempt to develop a clearer picture of how molecules—as simple as hydrogen peroxide or as complicated as DNA— behave in biological processes. 

Newman projections were devised by Professor Meivin S. Newman of Ohio State University in the 1950s. 

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