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Tautomers

  • Page ID
    42991
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    Tautomers are constitutional isomers that differ from each other in the locations of a hydrogen atom and one or more double bonds and interconvert rapidly.

    If the hypothetical compounds A and B are tautomers and if, say, A forms as the product in a reaction, some of it is spontaneously and rapidly converted to B, some of which is converted back to A, instantaneously establishing equilibrium between A and B. Thus, there is no independent existence of either A or B.

    eg. 1:

    tautomers1.png

    eg. 2:

    tautomers2.png

    eg. 3:

    tautomers3.png

    see also tautomerism, tautomerization


    This page titled Tautomers is shared under a All Rights Reserved (used with permission) license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Gamini Gunawardena via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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