Solved: CHEMISTRY Question for NEET

NEET CHEMISTRYEasy

The correct statement regarding the comparison of staggered and eclipsed conformations of ethane is:

The eclipsed conformation of ethane is more stable than staggered conformation because eclipsed conformation has no torsional strain.

The eclipsed conformation of ethane is more stable than staggered conformation even though the eclipsed conformation has a torsional strain.

The staggered conformation of ethane is more stable than eclipsed conformation because staggered conformation has no torsional strain.

The staggered conformation of ethane is less stable than eclipsed conformation because staggered conformation has a torsional strain.

Conformations of Ethane: Ethane exists in infinite conformations, with 'staggered' and 'eclipsed' being the extreme cases.
Torsional Strain: The repulsive interaction between the electron clouds of C-H bonds on adjacent carbon atoms is called torsional strain .
Stability Analysis:

Staggered Conformation: The hydrogen atoms are as far apart as possible. This minimizes the repulsion between electron clouds, resulting in minimum energy and maximum stability. The torsional strain is considered to be zero (or least) in this conformation .
Eclipsed Conformation: The hydrogen atoms are as close as possible. This maximizes electron cloud repulsion, resulting in maximum torsional strain (approx. 12.5 kJ mol $^{-1}$ ) and least stability .

Conclusion: The staggered conformation is more stable than the eclipsed conformation because the former has minimum (effectively no) torsional strain.

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