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The strain energy of cyclopropane and cyclobutane are 27.5 and 26.3 kcal mol −1, respectively. [1] Cyclopentane experiences much less strain, mainly due to torsional strain from eclipsed hydrogens: its preferred conformations interconvert by a process called pseudorotation. [4]: 14 Ring strain can be considerably higher in bicyclic systems.
Eclipsed conformation (image right in Newman projection) Staggered conformation. In chemistry an eclipsed conformation is a conformation in which two substituents X and Y on adjacent atoms A, B are in closest proximity, implying that the torsion angle X–A–B–Y is 0°. [1]
Ring strain theory was first developed by German chemist Adolf von Bayer in 1890. Previously, the only bonds believed to exist were torsional and steric; however, Bayer's theory became based on the interactions between the two strains. Bayer's theory was based on the assumption that ringed compounds were flat.
The interaction between the two flagpole hydrogens, in particular, generates steric strain. Torsional strain also exists between the C2–C3 and C5–C6 bonds (carbon number 1 is one of the two on a mirror plane), which are eclipsed — that is, these two bonds are parallel one to the other across a mirror plane. Because of this strain, the ...
Steric hindrance is often exploited to control selectivity, such as slowing unwanted side-reactions. Steric hindrance between adjacent groups can also affect torsional bond angles. Steric hindrance is responsible for the observed shape of rotaxanes and the low rates of racemization of 2,2'-disubstituted biphenyl and binaphthyl derivatives.
Despite their shortness, the C-C bonds in cyclopropane are weakened by 34 kcal/mol vs ordinary C-C bonds. In addition to ring strain, the molecule also has torsional strain due to the eclipsed conformation of its hydrogen atoms. The C-H bonds in cyclopropane are stronger than ordinary C-H bonds as reflected by NMR coupling constants.
Both conformations are free of torsional strain, but, in the gauche conformation, the two methyl groups are in closer proximity than the sum of their van der Waals radii. The interaction between the two methyl groups is repulsive ( van der Waals strain ), and an energy barrier results.
Van der Waals strain is strain resulting from Van der Waals repulsion when two substituents in a molecule approach each other with a distance less than the sum of their Van der Waals radii. Van der Waals strain is also called Van der Waals repulsion and is related to steric hindrance . [ 1 ]