Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 2, 2026
Isolating Free Carbenes, their Mixed Dimers and Organic Radicals
Published on: April 19, 2019
Ab initio study of cyclobutane: molecular structure, ring-puckering potential, and origin of the inversion barrier
Eric D Glendening1, Arthur M Halpern
1Department of Chemistry, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana 47809, USA. glendening@indstate.edu
Abstract:
The structure and ring-puckering properties of cyclobutane and its perdeuterated isotopomer are studied using high-level ab initio methods and complete basis set extrapolations. Calculations reveal significant coupling between the ring-puckering (theta) and CH(2)-rocking (alpha) motions, with equilibrium angles (theta(eq) = 29.59 degrees and alpha(eq) = 5.67 degrees) that are within the range of experimentally determined values. Our best estimate of the inversion barrier is 482 cm(-1), in excellent agreement with recent experimental determinations. Ring-inversion transition frequencies are evaluated from the eigenstates of the intrinsic reaction coordinate potentials for cyclobutane and cyclobutane-d(8). Natural bond orbital analysis shows that sigma(CC) --> sigma(CH)* and sigma(CH) --> sigma(CH)* hyperconjugative interactions are strengthened as cyclobutane puckers, thereby suggesting that inversion barriers in four-membered ring systems are a consequence of electronic delocalization rather than torsional strain.
Related Concept Videos
02:29Conformations of Cycloalkanes
02:11Conformations of Cyclohexane
The chair form is the most stable and derives its name from its resemblance to the “easy chair.” In the chair conformation, two carbon atoms are arranged out-of-plane — one above and one below, minimizing the torsional strain. In the chair form, the bond angle is very close to the ideal tetrahedral value,...
02:02Chair Conformation of Cyclohexane
The hydrogen atoms linked to carbons are arranged in two different axial and equatorial orientations to achieve this staggered...
02:30Stability of Substituted Cyclohexanes
The two chair conformations of cyclohexanes undergo rapid interconversion at room temperature. Both forms have identical energies and stabilities, each comprising equal amounts of the equilibrium mixture. Replacing a hydrogen atom with a functional group makes the two conformations energetically non-equivalent.
For example, in...
01:24π Molecular Orbitals of 1,3-Butadiene
The simplest conjugated diene is 1,3-butadiene: a four-carbon system where each carbon is sp2-hybridized and has an unhybridized p orbital that contains an unpaired electron. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals such that the number...
01:18Frost Circles for Different Conjugated Systems