What are the isomers of #C_5H_12O#?

1 Answer
Mar 16, 2016

Here's how many I get:

  1. I moved methyl groups (#1^@# alcohol to begin with).
  2. I moved the alcohol group by 1 and then moved methyl groups again (asymmetrical #2^@# alcohol to begin with).
  3. I moved the alcohol group again and then moved methyl groups again (symmetrical #2^@# alcohol to begin with).
  4. I moved methyl groups in an ether.
  5. I moved the oxygen to the final spot possible, since when incorporating flip symmetry we get the same ether if the oxygen is in the place of carbons 2 vs. 4 or 3 vs. 5. Then I moved methyl groups again.

Each squiggle bond indicates a pair of enantiomers. So in total I found #20# isomers, including stereoisomers.