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The chair conformation is the most stable conformer. At 298 K (25 °C), 99.99% of all molecules in a cyclohexane solution adopt this conformation.
Most methylcyclohexane is extracted from petroleum but it can be also produced by catalytic hydrogenation of toluene: CH 3 C 6 H 5 + 3 H 2 → CH 3 C 6 H 11. The hydrocarbon is a minor component of automobile fuel, with its share in US gasoline varying between 0.3 and 1.7% in early 1990s [10] and 0.1 to 1% in 2011 [11].
The boat conformation (C, 6.9 kcal/mol, C 2v symmetry) is a local energy maximum for the interconversion of the two mirror image twist-boat conformers, the second of which is converted to the other chair confirmation through another half-chair. At the end of the process, all axial positions have become equatorial and vice versa.
The cis isomer is already in the correct geometry in its most stable conformation; therefore, it eliminates easily. The repulsion between an axial t -butyl group and hydrogen atoms in the 1,3-diaxial position is so strong that the cyclohexane ring will revert to a twisted boat conformation.
A-values help predict the conformation of cyclohexane rings. The most stable conformation will be the one which has the substituent or substituents equatorial. When multiple substituents are taken into consideration, the conformation where the substituent with the largest A-value is equatorial is favored.
In the most stable chair form of cyclohexane, axial hydrogens on adjacent carbon atoms are pointed in opposite directions, virtually eliminating eclipsing strain. In medium-sized rings (7 to 13 carbon atoms) conformations in which the angle strain is minimised create transannular strain or Pitzer strain .
Another conformation of cyclohexane exists, known as boat conformation, but it interconverts to the slightly more stable chair formation. If cyclohexane is mono-substituted with a large substituent, then the substituent will most likely be found attached in an equatorial position, as this is the slightly more stable conformation.
As shown by the relative structure energies in the diagram above, the chair structures are the most stable carbohydrate form. This relatively defined and stable conformation means that the hydrogen atoms of the pyranose ring are held at relatively constant angles to one another.