The two conformations, also known as rotamers, differ in energy : The staggered conformation is 12.6 kJ / mol lower in energy ( more stable ) than the eclipsed conformation ( the least stable ).
22.
The time taken for an ethane molecule to pass from one staggered conformation to the next, equivalent to the rotation of one CH 3 group by 120?relative to the other, is of the order of 10 " 11 seconds.
23.
For some molecules such as those of " n "-butane, there can be special versions of staggered conformations called " gauche " and " anti "; see first Newman projection diagram in Conformational isomerism.
24.
In organic chemistry, a "'staggered conformation "'is a chemical conformation of an ethane-like moiety abcX Ydef in which the substituents a, b, and c are at the maximum distance from d, e, and f.
25.
Taking as an example the 1-cobaltocenyl-1'- rhodocenylferrocene cation shown above, this means that the cobaltocenyl and rhodocenyl moieties are eclipsed, and thus carbon atoms 1 and 1'on the central ferrocene core are as close to vertically aligned as is possible given the staggered conformation of the cyclopentadienyl rings within each metallocene unit.
