Round 5: Tossup 19

Molecular complexes characterized by this process often use bridged phenylene (“phenyl-een”) or naphthalene groups. This process notably does not occur in compounds like dinitrodiphenic (“di-nitro-di-phenic”) acid or BINAP (“BY-nap”), giving them a form of axial chirality called atropisomerism (10[1])(“AY-trope-eye-SOM-er-ism”). The prefixes “con” and “dis” (-5[1])describe a set of these processes for electrocyclic reactions whose stereochemistry is predicted by Woodward–Hoffman rules. This process alternatively names conformers that sample gauche, staggered, and eclipsed geometries. (10[1])This process can be depicted using Newman projections. (-5[1])High energy barriers exist for cis-trans isomerization because this process does not occur about alkenyl carbons. For 10 points, name (10[1])this process where a molecule changes torsion angles about certain connections (-5[1])between (0[1])two atoms. ■END■ (0[3])

ANSWER: bond rotation [accept rotation about a bond or word forms; prompt on rotation; prompt on torsion angle changes until read by asking “what physical process causes that?”; reject “molecular rotation”]
<AL, Chemistry> | Packet C - Virginia Tech A, Waterloo A, UCSD A, UBC A
= Average correct buzzpoint

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