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A configurational stereoisomer is a stereoisomer of a reference molecule that has the opposite configuration at a stereocenter (e.g., R- vs S-or E- vs Z-). This means that configurational isomers can be interconverted only by breaking covalent bonds to the stereocenter, for example, by inverting the configurations of some or all of the ...
Two main forms of isomerism are structural (or constitutional) isomerism, in which bonds between the atoms differ; and stereoisomerism (or spatial isomerism), in which the bonds are the same but the relative positions of the atoms differ. Isomeric relationships form a hierarchy. Two chemicals might be the same constitutional isomer, but upon ...
Structural equivalences between atoms of a parent molecule reduce the number of positional isomers that can be obtained by replacing those atoms for a different element or group. Thus, for example, the structural equivalence between the six hydrogens of ethane C 2 H 6 means that there is just one structural isomer of ethanol C 2 H 5 OH, not 6.
Stereochemistry, a subdiscipline of chemistry, studies the spatial arrangement of atoms that form the structure of molecules and their manipulation. [1] The study of stereochemistry focuses on the relationships between stereoisomers, which are defined as having the same molecular formula and sequence of bonded atoms (constitution) but differing in the geometric positioning of the atoms in space.
E–Z configuration, or the E–Z convention, is the IUPAC preferred method of describing the absolute stereochemistry of double bonds in organic chemistry.It is an extension of cis–trans isomer notation (which only describes relative stereochemistry) that can be used to describe double bonds having two, three or four substituents.
The quality of stereospecificity is focused on the reactants and their stereochemistry; it is concerned with the products too, but only as they provide evidence of a difference in behavior between reactants. Of stereoisomeric reactants, each behaves in its own specific way. Stereospecificity towards enantiomers is called enantiospecificity.
These differences can be very small, as in the case of the boiling point of straight-chain alkenes, such as pent-2-ene, which is 37 °C in the cis isomer and 36 °C in the trans isomer. [5] The differences between cis and trans isomers can be larger if polar bonds are present, as in the 1,2-dichloroethenes .
However, a different problem remains: in rare cases, two different stereoisomers of the same molecule can have the same CIP descriptors, so the CIP system may not be able to unambiguously name a stereoisomer, and other systems may be preferable.