CHM 124 Chapter Geometric Isomerism: 13.2
Document Summary
Geometric isomerism (also known as cis-trans isomerism or e-z isomerism) is a form of stereoisomerism. This page explains what stereoisomers are and how you recognise the possibility of geometric isomers in a molecule. Further down the page, you will find a link to a second page which describes the e-z notation for naming geometric isomers. You shouldn"t move on to that page (even if the e-z notation is what your syllabus is asking for) until you are really confident about how geometric isomers arise and how they are named on the cis-trans system. The e-z system is better for naming more complicated structures but is more difficult to understand than cis-trans. The cis-trans system of naming is still widely used - especially for the sort of simple molecules you will meet at this level. That means that irrespective of what your syllabus might say, you will have to be familiar with both systems.
