20.03: Structural Formulas and Isomerism
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Isomerism
All of the alkanes containing 4 or more carbon atoms show structural isomerism, meaning that there are two or more different structural formulae that you can draw for each molecular formula.
Example: Butane or MethylPropane
C4H10 could be either of these two different molecules:
These are named butane and 2-methylpropane, respectively
What is structural isomerism?
Isomers are molecules that have the same molecular formula, but have a different arrangement of the atoms in space. That excludes any different arrangements which are simply due to the molecule rotating as a whole, or rotating about particular bonds. For example, both of the following are the same molecule. They are not isomers; both are butane.
There are also endless other possible ways that this molecule could twist itself. There is completely free rotation around all the carbon-carbon single bonds. If you had a model of a molecule in front of you, you would have to take it to pieces and rebuild it if you wanted to make an isomer of that molecule. If you can make an apparently different molecule just by rotating single bonds, it's not different - it's still the same molecule.
In structural isomerism, the atoms are arranged in a completely different order. This is easier to see with specific examples. What follows looks at some of the ways that structural isomers can arise. The names of the various forms of structural isomerism probably do not matter all that much, but you must be aware of the different possibilities when you come to draw isomers.
Chain isomerism
These isomers arise because of the possibility of branching in carbon chains. For example, there are two isomers of butane, C4H10. In one of them, the carbon atoms lie in a "straight chain" whereas in the other the chain is branched.
Be careful not to draw "false" isomers which are just twisted versions of the original molecule. For example, this structure is just the straight chain version of butane rotated about the central carbon-carbon bond.
You could easily see this with a model. This is the example we've already used at the top of this page.
Example 1: Chain Isomers in Pentane
Pentane, C5H12, has three chain isomers. If you think you can find any others, they are simply twisted versions of the ones below. If in doubt make some models.
Contributors
Dr. Dietmar Kennepohl FCIC (Professor of Chemistry, Athabasca University)
Prof. Steven Farmer (Sonoma State University)
Organic Chemistry With a Biological Emphasis by Tim Soderberg (University of Minnesota, Morris)