RE: QSAR - conformation vs conformer

Phil,

If I remember correctly the definitions from my undergraduate chemistry
books (which were translated from English), the "conformer" is an
(well-known) energetically stable conformation (such as +gosh for butane)
whereas "conformation" can be characterized by any torsional angle of the
underlying single bond.

I believe in your example below you ought to use "conformation" unless you
compare (as in my example) three conformers of butane and refer to
trans-butane as the lowest of the three.

Cheers, =Alex=

-----Original Message-----
From: qsar_society-admin_+_accelrys.com
[mailto:qsar_society-admin##accelrys.com] On Behalf Of Hammond, Phil
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 3:29 PM
To: qsar_society]*[accelrys.com
Subject: QSAR - conformation vs conformer

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---
Hi all,
	I wonder if anyone has favorite definitions for conformation and
conformer that they might be willing to share.  There is some discussion in
our group with regards to which should be used for a single, specific
spatial arrangement of the atoms of a compound.
 For example " The lowest energy conformation was found to be..." or "The
conformer showing the lowest energy was found to be..."
 Any insight would be appreicated.  Is there a standard that is now
recommended in publications?
Phil Hammond
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