Isomers
Isomers are molecules that have the same molecular formula, but have a different arrangement of the atoms in space. That excludes any different structures (isomers) 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.
Types of Isomers[edit | edit source]
There are two main types of isomers. These are structural isomers and stereoisomers.
Structural Isomers[edit | edit source]
Structural isomers have the same molecular formula but the bonding connections or their order differs.
Chain Isomerism[edit | edit source]
Chain isomerism occurs among the alkanes. These are hydrocarbons with the formula CnH2n+2. The carbon atoms can be arranged in a chain in various ways.
Functional Group Isomerism[edit | edit source]
Functional group isomerism occurs when there are two or more possibilities for the functional group you can have.
Tautomeric Isomerism[edit | edit source]
Tautomeric isomerism is a special type of functional group isomerism and involves the simultaneous shift of a hydrogen atom and a double bond position.
Stereoisomers[edit | edit source]
Stereoisomers are isomers that differ in spatial arrangement of atoms, rather than order of atomic connectivity. One of their most interesting type of isomer is the mirror-image stereoisomers, a non-superimposable set of two molecules that are mirror image of one another. The two forms are called enantiomers.
See Also[edit | edit source]
Isomers Resources | ||
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