In the following skew conformation of ethane, H⋅−C−C−H" dihedral angle is:
(A)58∘
(B)120∘
(C)149∘✓ Correct
(D)151∘
Answer: (C)
Solution
In a Newman projection the dihedral angle is simply the angle, read around the C−C axis, between the chosen front-carbon bond and the back-carbon bond. Here the front-carbon C−H′′ bond points straight down. Starting from that downward bond and sweeping round the axis to the back-carbon C−H′ bond in the upper right, the twist is one staggered step of 120∘ plus the extra 29∘ by which H′ is turned past the neighbouring front-carbon C−H bond (the small 29∘ arc marked in the figure). Adding these, the H′−C−C−H′′ dihedral angle is 120∘+29∘=149∘.
JEE Main · 2019 · 12 Apr 2019 · Shift 2 · Single correct option