Chemistry in Education: How to Enumerate Constitutional Isomers of Alkanes

Prebrojavanje konstitucijskih (strukturnih) izomera alkana lijepa je vježba kojom učenik stječe osjećaj za raznolikost kemijske strukture te ovladava vještinom pisanja kemijskih formula i sustavnih imena kemijskih spojeva. U članku je predložena jednostavna shema sustavnog prebrojavanja izomera temeljena na maksimalnoj dužini alifatskog lanca. Zadatak se može izvesti slaganjem šibica ili drugih štapića. U članku je dana konstrukcijska shema do molekule nonana (35 izomera). Ovo djelo je dano na korištenje pod licencom Creative Commons Imenovanje 4.0 međunarodna.Enumeration of isomers, especially isomers of alkanes, is very instructive in teaching organic chemistry because it helps the students to gain greater proficiency in writing chemical formulas and systematic chemical names, as well as familiarizes them with the vast diversity of molecular structures. In this paper, a systematic approach for the construction of constitutional (structural) isomers of alkanes is described. It is based on grouping the isomers by their maximal chain length. The best way to apply this in the classroom is to use short sticks, e.g. matches, for the construction of alkane kenograms. The task of isomer construction should be organized as teamwork in a competitive manner. The approach is illustrated by enumerating isomers from C4 to C9. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License