Boat Conformation
In the basic boat conformation (C2v symmetry), carbons C2, C3, C5 and C6 are coplanar, while C1 and C4 are displaced away from that plane in the same direction. Bonds C2-C3 and C5-C6 are therefore parallel. In this form, the molecule has two perpendicular planes of symmetry as well as a C2 axis. The boat conformations have higher energy than the chair conformations. The interaction between the two flagpole hydrogens, in particular, generates steric strain. There is also torsional strain involving the C2-C3 and C5-C6 bonds, which are eclipsed. Because of this strain, the boat configuration is unstable (not a local minimum of the energy function).
Read more about this topic: Cyclohexane Conformation
Famous quotes containing the word boat:
“The utmost familiarity with dead streams, or with the ocean, would not prepare a man for this peculiar navigation; and the most skillful boatman anywhere else would here be obliged to take out his boat and carry round a hundred times, still with great risk, as well as delay, where the practiced batteau-man poles up with comparative ease and safety.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)