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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000  > May  >
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A Comparison of the ab Initio Calculated and Experimental Conformational Energies of Alkylcyclohexanes
Fillmore Freeman and Zufan M. Tsegai
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2025

Marc L. Kasner
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montclair State Univerity, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

Warren J. Hehre
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, and Wavefunction, Inc., Irvine CA 92612

Cover
May 2000
Vol. 77 No. 5
p. 661

Abstract
Ab initio 6-31G(d) and MP2/6-31G(d)//6-31G(d) methods were used to calculate the energies of the rotamers of the chair conformers of alkylcyclohexanes and trimethylsilylcyclohexane. The MP2/6-31G(d)//6-31G(d) calculated conformational energies ( or A values, in kcal/mol) of the alkylcyclohexanes (Me = 1.96; Et = 1.80; Pr = 1.73 iso-Pr = 1.60; t-Bu = 5.45; neo-pent = 1.32) and trimethylsilylcyclohexane (SiMe3 = 2.69) are similar to the experimental values. Plots of the calculated conformational energies for the alkylcyclohexanes and trimethylsilylcyclohexane versus their experimental values are linear (slope = 1.253 and r = .993 for 6-31G(d) and slope = 1.114 and r = .982 for MP2/6-31G(d)//6-31G(d)). The conformational energies are determined primarily by steric effects which include gauche (synclinal) interactions and repulsive nonbonded interactions in both the axial and equatorial conformers.
More Information
*  Citation
Freeman, Fillmore; Tsegai, Zufan M.; Kasner, Marc L.; Hehre, Warren J. J. Chem. Educ. 2000 77 661.
*  Keywords
Computational Chemistry; Molecular Modeling / Dynamics; Organic Chemistry
*  History
Created:
Last Updated:
March 31, 2000
April 15, 2005
  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2000 > May > Page 661


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