Conformational Isomerism - Equilibrium Population of Conformers

Equilibrium Population of Conformers

The population of different conformers follows a Boltzmann distribution:

 \frac{N_i}{N_{total}}
=
\frac {e^{-E_{rel}/RT}} {\sum_{k=1}^{N_{total}} e^{-E_k/RT} }

The left hand side is the equilibrium ratio of conformer i to the total. is the relative energy of the i-th conformer from the minimum energy conformer. is the relative energy of the k-th conformer from the minimum energy conformer. R is the molar ideal gas constant equal to 8.31 J/(mol·K) and T is the temperature in kelvins (K). The denominator of the right side is the partition function.

Read more about this topic:  Conformational Isomerism

Famous quotes containing the words equilibrium and/or population:

    “When a person hasn’t in him that which is higher and stronger than all external influences, it is enough for him to catch a good cold in order to lose his equilibrium and begin to see an owl in every bird, to hear a dog’s bark in every sound.”
    —Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)

    “O for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbor says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through! Our statistics are at fault: the population has been returned too large. How many men are there to a square thousand miles in this country? Hardly one.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)