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Good job! Geometrical Isomers
Good job! Geometrical Isomers
Maleic and fumaric acid are geometrical isomers. Geometric isomers differ in the spatial position around a bond with restricted rotation (e.g. a double bond or across a ring system).
Two categories of isomers:
Constitutional Isomers: same empirical formula but different connectivity. This can be molecules with different functional groups (functional: cyclohexane & hex-1-ene) and/or bonding patterns (positional: hex-1-ene & hex-2-ene) or hydrocarbon branching (skeletal: cyclohexane & 1-ethyl-2-methylcyclopropane).
Stereoisomers:
Have the same connectivity but different arrangement of their atoms in space. They are conformational, geometric, enantiomers, and diastereomers.
Conformational - Stereoisomers produced by rotation about a sigma bond.
Geometric – These isomers differ in the spatial position around a bond with restricted rotation (e.g. a double bond or across a ring system).
Enantiomers – Non-superimposable and exact mirror images. They are nearly identical in properties, but have opposite plane-polarized light and different properties in chiral environments. All stereocenters are exactly reversed when comparing enantiomers.
Diastereomers – Non-superimposable and not mirror images. Molecules that are
diastereomers must have multiple chiral centers and will have completely different properties. They will be no more similar than any two constitutional isomers and will have different boiling or melting points, solubility, reactivity, etc.
Further information about isomers can be found in master organic chemistry website.
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