Chem 350 Jasperse Ch.

3 Notes 1
ALKANE NAMES, Formulas, Properties (Memorize) (Sections 3.2,4)

# C’s Name Formula Bp (ºC) Structure

1 Methane CH4 -162 H-(CH2)-H
2 Ethane C2H6 -89 H-(CH2)2-H
3 Propane C3H8 -42 H-(CH2)3-H
4 Butane C4H10 0 H-(CH2)4-H
5 Pentane C5H12 36 H-(CH2)5-H
6 Hexane C6H14 69 H-(CH2)6-H
7 Heptane C7H16 98 H-(CH2)7-H
8 Octane C8H18 126 H-(CH2)8-H
9 Nonane C9H20 151 H-(CH2)9-H
10 Octane C10H22 174 H-(CH2)10-H

Notes: (Including some alkane properties, Section 3.5)

1. Memorize names
2. Names all end in “ane”
3. From 5 up, come from Greek
4. Boiling points: more C’s  high boiling point (London force)
5. Formula: for acyclic alkanes  CNH2N+2
• Basically 2H per carbon (2N), plus 2 extra H’s at the ends (+2)
• Branched isomers for acyclic alkanes still have CNH2N+2
6. Cyclic Alkanes: names start in “cyclo” (cyclopentane, cyclooctane, etc.)
7. Formula for cyclic alkanes  CNH2N
• Basically 2H per carbon (2N), but without the extra two H’s at the ends
• Cyclic alkanes with side-chains still have CNH2N
8. Solubility: nonpolar
•  insoluble in water
•  soluble in nonpolar, hydrophobic solvents
9. Density: < 1 (less than water)
•  float on top of water

Industrial Alkanes (3.5)

Name # C’s Boiling Range Use
Natural Gas C1-C3 Gas Fuel
(70% methane)
“Petroleum Gas” C2-C4 <30º Heating, Gas
Propane C3 -42º Propane tanks,
camping, etc.
Gasoline C4-C9 30-180º Car fuel
Kerosene C8-C16 160-230º Jet fuel
Diesel C10-C18 200-320º Truck fuel
Heavy Oils C16-C30 300-450º
Motor Oils High temp
Paraffin Vacuum
Asphalt Never Distills
Coke Never Distills
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 2
Nomenclature of Alkanes (Sections 3.3-4)
Systematic IUPAC Rules for Branched and Substituted Alkanes
1. Longest continuous C-chain  “core name”
2. Number core chain from an end nearest a substituent
3. Name substituents as “alkyl” groups:
4. Specify the location of substituents using numbers (hyphenate the #’s)
• If >2 substituents, list alphabetically
• Use di-, tri-, tetra- if the same substituent is repeated. (But ignore
these in alphabetizing).

Punctuation Notes:
• Hyphenate numbers
• Do not put a space between substituents and the core name

Special Names for Some 3 or 4-carbon Substituents

H3C CH3
CH H3C C
Memorize H3C CH3
Isopropyl t-butyl or
tert-butyl
H2 H2 CH3
H3C C H3C C CH H3C CH
Others C
H2
C
H2 H2
C H3C C C
H2
CH3
H2
n-propyl n-butyl isobutyl s-butyl
(n for "normal")

Another Classification System

Primary (1º): with one attached carbon
Secondary (2º): with two attached carbons
Tertiary (3º): with three attached carbons

H C C
C C C C C C
H 1º H C
2º 3º

Very Complex Substituents (Not responsible)

Substituent: (1-ethyl-2,3-dimethylpentyl)
Overall: 9-(1-ethyl-2,3-dimethylpentyl)nonadecane
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 3
Nomenclature Example Problems

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 4
Structure, Conformations of Acyclic Alkanes (3.7)
A. “Conformations” = “Conformers” = “Rotamers” = different 3-D arrangements
resulting from rotation around a single bond

H H H H H H H H
H
H H
H
H
H H H H H H H H
H H H
"Newman
Normal zig-zag "sawhorse" Projection"

B. “Newman Projections”: look straight down one C-C bond

 If both bonded carbons are tetrahedral, there will be three bonds extending from
the front carbon, and three more bonds extending from the back carbon
 Terms:
o Dihedral angle: angle between a bond on the front atom relative to a bond
on the back atom
o Eclipsed: when bonds are aligned. 0º, 120º, 240º, 360º dihedral angles
o Staggered: when bonds are as far apart as possible: 60º, 180º, 300º
o Skew: anything else in between the eclipsed and staggered extremes
H H H H H H H
H* H H H*
H H* H H *H H

H H *H H
H HH H H H H*H H H H H*H H H H HH
H H* H*

0º 60º 120º 180º 240º 300º 360º

eclipsed staggered eclipsed staggered eclipsed staggered eclipsed

Energy: Staggered best, eclipsed worst

 Why: Torsional strain. Repulsion between bonding electron pairs is reduced
in the staggered conformation, and is worst in the eclipsed conformation.

Rotation Barrier: energy gap between the best and worst conformation when you go
through a full 360º rotation (as would take place in a full bond rotation)
 Draw in Entergy diagram:

Relative 2
Energy
(kcal/mol)
1

0º 60º 120º 180º 240º 300º 360º

Dihedral angle
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 5
Conformations of Butane and Longer Alkanes (3.8)
CH3CH2-CH2CH3 is more complex. Focus down C2-C3 bond.

CH3 CH3 CH3 CH3

CH3 H CH3 CH3
CH3 H CH3
H CH3 H H H3C H
H H H C H
H HH H H H H3 H
CH H 3H H*H H H H HH
H CH3 H
0º 60º 120º 180º 240º 300º 360º
eclipsed staggered eclipsed staggered eclipsed staggered eclipsed
Totally Gauche Eclipsed Anti Eclipsed Gauche Totally
Eclipsed Eclipsed
6.0 0.9 3.6 0 3.6 0.9 6.0

Relative 4
Energy
(kcal/mol)
2

0º 60º 120º 180º 240º 300º 360º

Dihedral angle
Questions
1. Draw the energy diagram

2. What would be the rotation barrier?

Strain Energy Factors:

1. Torsional strain (why all of the eclipsed type conformations are worse). Repulsion
between bonded electrons
2. Steric strain: When atoms themselves get too close. Atom-atom repulsion.
3. Angle strain: When bond angles can’t achieve ideal VSEPR angles. (No angle strain in
ethane or butane)

Total Strain = Torsional strain (are any bonds eclipsed?)

+ Steric strain (are any atoms too close)
+ Angle strain (are any bond angles forced to be other than ideal?)

Questions
1. In general, why are staggered better than eclipsed?

2. Why is eclipsed better than totally eclipsed?

3. Why is anti better than gauche?

4. Why is gauche better than eclipsed?

5. Why is anti better than totally eclipsed?

Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 6
Summary
1. Anti < gauche < eclipsed < totally eclipsed
2. Steric and torsional reasons
3. The bulkier a substituent, the greater the steric strain in eclipsed and totally eclipsed
conformations

Skills. Be Able to:

1. predict relative rotation barriers
2. write a conformational analysis (rotation/energy diagram)
3. draw Newman pictures for any bond in any structure
4. identify anti/gauche/eclipsed/totally eclipsed conformations

Steps to Drawing Newman Structure:

1. Draw a circle (back carbon) with a dot in the middle
2. Add three sticks extending from the periphery of the circle, with one of them straight up
3. Add three sticks extending from the center dot (front carbon) to illustrate the bonds
radiating from the front carbon

CH3 CH3
H H

H H H H
CH3

Problems
1. Rank the rotation barriers for the following, relative to the indicated bonds

CH3-CH3

2. Draw Newman projections for the best and worst conformations of the structure shown,

relative to the indicated bond. Use the 3rd carbon in the back.
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 7
Higher Alkanes
-for any alkane, anti conformations best = zig-zag layout

3.10 Cycloalkanes
Nomenclature: cyclopropane, cyclobutane, etc..

General formula: CNH2N

-this is also true for cycloalkanes with chain(s) attached

3.11 Substituted Cycloalkanes and cis/trans Isomers in Disubstituted Cycloalkanes

Nomenclature:
• Monosubstituted: alkylcycloalkane
• Disubstituted: cis- (or trans-)-x-alkyl-y-alkylcycloalkane
1. “Cis”-same side “trans” – opposite sides
2. Number ring so as to minimize numbers

3.12 Ring Stability and Ring Strain (Section 4.4-8)

Total Ring Strain Main

Strain Per Source
Ring Size (kcal/mol) CH2 Of Strain
3 28 9 Angle Strain
4 26 7 Angle Strain
5 7 1 Torsional Strain (eclipsing)
6 0 0 -- STRAIN FREE
7 6 1 Torsional Strain (eclipsing)
8 10 1 Torsional Strain (eclipsing)
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 8

Structural Isomer Problems (3.2, 3.10)

• Check formula first. Is it an acyclic molecule (CNH2N+2), or not? (CNH2N
could be a cyclic alkane, or perhaps an alkene …)
• Be systematic. Try the longest possible chain (or largest ring size) first, then
systematically shorten it and find the branched isomers.
• Avoid duplicates!
• Beware of things that look different but are really the same thing.

1. Draw all structural isomers of C7H16. (Be systematic; no duplicates!)

2. Draw all structural isomers of C7H14. (Be systematic; no duplicates!)

Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 9

3.13 Cyclohexane Chair Conformations

 Cyclohexane has no angle strain or torsional strain
 Cyclohexane has perfect 109º angles with staggered, non-eclipsed C-C bonds
 Obviously it is not flat (natural angle for a flat cyclohexane would be 120º)

Chair Conformations:

A B C D
E
boat intermediate
best easier to see "chair"

o Chairs A and B are constantly interconverting via “boat” E

o A and B are best to draw and work with.
o But C/D make it easier to visualize why it’s called a “chair”: 4 carbons make the
seat of the chair, one makes backrest, one a footrest.

Process for Drawing Both Chairs:

"Right-handed chair"

"Left-handed chair"

1. Draw a 4-carbon zig-zag. It helps if your left-most carbon is a little lower than your
3rd carbon
2. Add a 5th carbon and 6th carbon, but don’t have them exactly underneath the 2nd and
3rd carbons.
3. Connect the 6th carbon to the orginal 1st carbon
 For a “left-handed chair”, start up and zig-zag down.

“Axial” and “Equatorial” Positions for Substituents

a a e u
a u u
e d u
e e e u u d
a e d
a a d d d
equatorial: 6 essentially "uppers" and "downers"
axial: 3 vertical up horizontal
3 vertical down

1. Each carbon has one axial and one equatorial H’s

2. Always have six axial attachments
3. 3 axials up (on alternating carbons)
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 10
4. 3 axials down (on alternating carbons)
5. Always have six equatorial attachments
6. For processing cis/trans problems, it’s helpful to recognize “upper” from “downer”
positions
7. When a chair flips, what was equatorial becomes axial, and what was axial becomes
equatorial
u u u u
u
u u d
d chair flip u

u
u
d d
*
* d u
u
d d
d d d
d
d

Drawing equatorial and axial bonds:

 Make axial straight up or straight down (3 each)
 Make equatorial bond lines almost exactly horizontal
 Equatorials are easiest to draw on left and right-most carbons

Drawing Mono- and DiSubstituted Cyclohexanes (Sections 3-14,15)

 Always attach the first substituent onto the leftmost carbon (easiest to draw)
CH3
chair flip
H3C * H *
H
Equatorial: Axial: Less
More stable Stable

 Draw in the H on any substituted carbon, but skip on H-only carbons

 Equatorial is better than axial for steric reasons. In the axial configuration, the
substituent has destabilizing steric interactions
o 2 extra gauche interactions, and 1,3-diaxial interactions
 For disubstituted chairs, let the cis/trans relationship guide whether the second
substituent should be in an “upper” or “lower” position relative to the original
substituent.
 If one substituent is bigger than the other, the most stable chair will always have the
larger substituent equatorial
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 11
Cis and Trans Disubstituted Cyclohexanes

Questions:
1. Draw both chair forms for cis-2-methyl-1-isopropylcyclohexane.
2. Which is the best chair for cis-2-methyl-1-isopropylcyclohexane?
3. Draw both chair forms and identify the best chair for trans-2-methyl-1-
isopropylcyclohexane.
4. Which is more stable, cis- or trans-2-methyl-1-isopropylcyclohexane?
5. Then answer the same questions for the 1,3- and 1,4- isomers.

1,2-
DiSubbed CH3 cis-1 H trans-1
H H
H CH3
CH3 H
H H
H H3C H3C H
H A H C
H B CH3 D

1,3-
DiSubbed CH3 cis-2 H trans-2
H H
H CH3

CH3 H H
CH3 H H
H CH3
H H H H 3C
A B C D

1,4- CH3 H
DiSubbed cis-3 trans-3
H H H CH3
CH3 H
H H CH3
CH3 H
H
H B H H C
A D CH3
Chem 350 Jasperse Ch. 3 Notes 12