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Pioneering Ideas for the Physical and Chemical Sciences pp 25–39Cite as

Conformational Analysis

The Elevation of Two-Dimensional Formulas into the Third Dimension

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Abstract

The subject of this essay concerns the progression from two-dimensional to three-dimensional structural formulas, with emphasis on the development of conformational analysis. We are all aware that the second half of the 20th century has been a golden age in the development of stereochemistry, from Barton’s conformational analysis in 1950, through the Woodward-Hoffmann rules and Woodward’s ingenious diastereoselective syntheses, to the many highly efficient enantioselective syntheses of today. Less well known — at least to those not schooled in the history of chemistry — is the fact that an at least equally brilliant development in structural chemistry occurred 100 years earlier, specifically in the years 1858 to 1892.

The erratum of this chapter is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0268-9_35

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  1. Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599-3290, USA

    Ernest L. Eliel

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  1. Institute for Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    W. Fleischhacker

  2. Institute for Inorganic Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    T. Schönfeld

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Eliel, E.L. (1997). Conformational Analysis. In: Fleischhacker, W., Schönfeld, T. (eds) Pioneering Ideas for the Physical and Chemical Sciences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0268-9_3

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