How many cyclic isomers does C5H10 have?

1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
Feb 12, 2018

I got #7# in total, including #R//S# stereoisomers.

Since you just mention cyclic #"C"_5"H"_10#, we are not restricted to five-membered rings. I found:

In order, we have condensed formulas of:

  • #"C"_5"H"_10#
  • #"C"_3"H"_6"CH"-"CH"_3#
  • #"C"_2"H"_4"CH"-"CH"_2"CH"_3#
  • #"C"_2"H"_4"C"-("CH"_3)_2#
  • #"CH"_2("CHCH"_3)_2#

Or, if we decided to list the stereoisomers (#(R,R)#, #(S,S)#, #(R,S)#) of the three-membered rings, we would get two more. After all, stereoisomers are isomers!

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