Classes of Isomers

isomers

structural

cis-trans

enantiomers

view

MoleculePlot

SpaceFillingMoleculePlot

EthylMethylEther

2Propanol

1Propanol

Isomers are compounds with the same chemical composition but with different structures. There are two categories: structural isomers and stereoisomers. Structural isomerism is exemplified by the molecules

C

2

H

5

O

CH

3

(ethylmethylether) and

C

3

H

7

OH

(1- and 2-propanol). Examples of stereoisomerism are the cis and trans modifications of specific groups of atoms within a molecule, for example

ClCH=CHCl

(1,2-dichloroethene). Another type known as enantiomers are two stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other, which occurs in different forms of

C

6

H

12

O

6

(glucose).

References

[1] Wikipedia. "Isomer." (Nov 23, 2011) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isomer.

External Links

Isomer (ScienceWorld)

Conformational Isomer (ScienceWorld)

Permanent Citation

Enrique Zeleny

"Classes of Isomers"
http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/ClassesOfIsomers/
Wolfram Demonstrations Project
Published: December 15, 2011