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+ Inorganic chemistry
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Muhammad Tayyab

How can the E and Z isomers be distinguished from NMR?

Chris Conrad  Follow

The answer to this question can vary depending on the total structure of the alkene, and can be complicated. However, I will give you an example which may help you understand the process of structure determination using NMR techniques.

Let us take the H-NMR spectra of the two geometric isomers of 2-butene. The hydrogen atoms on the doubly bonded carbon interact with each other in a manner that is called spin-spin coupling. This coupling mechanism serves to “split” the signal for each hydrogen atom into a “multiplet” (several peaks equidistant from each other).

If the two hydrogen atoms involved in this coupling interaction are trans to each other, this coupling is different than what we see if the hydrogen atoms are cis to each other. We would see a greater separation of peaks in the trans isomer as compared to the cis.

My explanation is limited in scope, but gives an idea of the power of NMR analyses in structure determinations.

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David Ocame  Follow

Most pairs of conformers interconvert way too rapidly at room temperature to be isolated. The energetic barrier for interconversion is low. Interesting, there are some compounds where the barrier is considerably higher. Such compounds are called atropisomers and can in fact be separated, for example by chromatography.

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