Cycloalkanes in Hydrogen-1 NMR

[Saracen Rue]

Main Question or Discussion Point

Will members of the cycloalkane homologous series only ever show one peak in Hydrogen - 1 NMR spectroscopy due to the symmetry in the molecules?

 

[Borek]

I can be wrong, but I believe it depends on how precise your measurements are. Boat and chair have different symmetries, so I wouldn't be surprised to see more than one peak even for cyclohexane.

 

[DrDu]

I can be wrong, but I believe it depends on how precise your measurements are. Boat and chair have different symmetries, so I wouldn't be surprised to see more than one peak even for cyclohexane.

This will also be a question of temperature, whether the interconversion of the conformers is faster or slower than the NMR timescale.

 

[DrDu]

I found some relevant spectra:
http://www.chem.uky.edu/courses/che450g/handouts/cp2tis5.html