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The Case for Steric Repulsion Causing the Staggered Conformation of Ethane
Author(s) -
Bickelhaupt F. Matthias,
Baerends Evert Jan
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.200350947
Subject(s) - steric effects , hyperconjugation , chemistry , yield (engineering) , computational chemistry , chemical physics , stereochemistry , molecule , organic chemistry , physics , thermodynamics
The barrier to rotation in ethane (see picture) is considered a prototypical case of steric hindrance. This view has been recently contradicted, and hyperconjugation has been put forward as the right explanation. The authors argue that there is no reason to abandon the steric repulsion explanation, and discuss why different electronic structure analyses yield different views.