CHEM 130 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Staggered Conformation, Eclipsed Conformation, Newman Projection
Document Summary
The simple alkane ethane provides a good introduction to conformational analysis. Here there is only one carbon-carbon bond, and the rotational structures (rotamers) that it may assume fall between two extremes, staggered and eclipsed. In the following description of these conformers, several structural notations are used. The first views the ethane molecule from the side, with the carbon-carbon bond being horizontal to the viewer. The hydrogens are then located in the surrounding space by wedge (in front of the plane) and hatched (behind the plane) bonds. If this structure is rotated so that carbon #1 is canted down and brought closer to the viewer, the sawhorse projection is presented. Finally, if the viewer looks down the carbon-carbon bond with carbon #1 in front of #2, the newman projection is seen. To see an eclipsed conformer of ethane orient itself as a newman projection, and then interconvert with the staggered conformer and intermediate conformers .
