11 Constitutional Isomers Examples: With Detailed Facts

 Constitutional isomers examples have different connectivity and can be defined as those molecules which have the same molecular formula but different structural representations or bonding arrangements. Based on the arrangement they are bifurcated into 3 types skeletal isomers, positional isomers, and functional isomers.

  1. Butane and isobutane constitutional isomers examples
  2. Ethanol and dimethyl ether constitutional isomers examples
  3. C6H12 constitutional isomers examples
  4. N-pentane, isopentane, neo-pentane constitutional isomer examples
  5. Propionic acid and 1-hydroxy-2-propanone constitutional isomers examples
  6. C5H10O constitutional isomers examples
  7. C4H8 constitutional isomers examples
  8. C6H14 constitutional isomers examples
  9. 1-butene and 2-butene constitutional isomers examples
  10. N-methyl cyclohexanone constitutional isomers examples
  11. Glucose and fructose constitutional isomers examples
  12. Nitromethane and methyl nitrite constitutional isomers examples

Butane and isobutane constitutional isomers examples

Butane and isobutane are constitutional isomers examples and consist of only carbon and hydrogen in their structure. Their molecular formula is the same i.e C4H10. They differ in the length of the chain and the position of the methyl group. Hence isobutane according to the IUPAC nomenclature is designated as 2-methyl propane. Isobutane is branched and butane is a linear chain compound.

constitutional isomers examples
Butane constitutional isomers examples

Ethanol and dimethyl ether constitutional isomers examples

Ethanol and dimethyl ether are suitable constitutional isomers examples. They have the same molecular formula C2H6O but completely different structures, physical properties, and chemical properties. Along with being constitutional isomers examples, they are functional isomers as they belong to 2 different functional groups one with the -OH group and the other with the ether group.

ethanol
Representation of constitutional isomers examples having same molecular formula but different functional groups

C6H12 constitutional isomers examples

C6H12 constitutional isomers examples can form many aliphatic and cyclic compounds with the organization of atoms and bonds. The constitutional isomers example is Cyclohexane, 1-hexene, 2-hexene, 3-methyl-1-pentene, and 1-ethyl-2-methyl cyclopropane. These constitutional isomers examples can be best explained diagrammatically.

c6h12
Constitutional isomers example with same molecular formula

N-pentane, isopentane, neo-pentane constitutional isomer examples

These are the most common constitutional isomers examples. Here the n-pentane is the normal linear molecule and isopentane is the branched molecule with the shifting of a single methyl group. The neopentane is a criss-cross structure molecule that is highly branched and has a central carbon atom surrounded by 4 CH3 groups. The entire constitutional isomers examples have the same molecular formula.

pentane
Pentane constitutional isomers examples

Propionic acid and 1-hydroxy-2-propanone constitutional isomers examples

Both of these constitutional isomers examples belong to 2 different functional groups one being carboxylic acid and the other being ketone. They not only show structural variation but a difference in their properties as well despite having the same molecular formula.

propionic
Representation of constitutional isomers examples where the molecular formula is same but their is difference of functional groups.

C5H10O constitutional isomers examples

C5H10O constitutional isomers examples usually belong to ketones and aldehydes functional groups. There are a total of 7 isomer structures out of which 4 are aldehydes and 3 are ketones.

c5h10o
C5H10O constitutional isomers examples

C4H8 constitutional isomers examples

C4H8 molecular formulas usually have 2 most popular constitutional isomers examples. One of the structures is an alkene with a double bond and the other one is a cyclic compound. Their names are butene and cyclobutane respectively.

c4h8
Representation of constitution isomers examples where one compound is aliphatic and other is cyclic in nature

C6H14 constitutional isomers examples

C6H14 is an alkane named hexane. It has 5 constitutional isomers examples namely n-hexane, 2-methylpentane, 3-methylpentane, 2,2-dimethylbutane, 2,3-dimethylbutane. They are best described diagrammatically.

hexxane
Hexane constitutional isomers examples

1-butene and 2-butene constitutional isomers examples

In the above constitutional isomers examples, the molecular formula C4H8 is the same. The only difference is the position of the double bond. In 1-butene it is at the end of the structure and in 2-butene it is in the middle. So it also shows positional isomerism.

1 butene
Constitutional isomers example of butene where there is difference in the position of double bond

N-methyl cyclohexanone constitutional isomers examples

Here 2 constitutional isomers examples are observed where there is a difference in the position of functional group CH3 and OH concerning each other. They form ortho and para organic compounds 2-methylcyclohexane and 4-methylcyclohexane respectively.

methylcyclohexane
Constitutional isomers examples of methyl cyclohexanone

Glucose and fructose constitutional isomers examples

Glucose and fructose are both carbohydrates with the molecular formula C6H12O6. They are very suitable constitutional isomers examples as they only differ in the position of the double bond oxygen atom. So they can be called regioisomers due to positional differences.

glucose 1
Constitutional isomers examples of sugar

 Nitromethane and methyl nitrite constitutional isomers examples

Both of these constitutional isomers examples have the same molecular formula CH3NO2 and functional group NO2 but the atoms are connected in different order and arrangements.

Conclusion

So, in nutshell constitutional isomers examples are structural isomers where the molecular formula is same but there is difference in structural representation and the arrangement of atoms and the bonds in the organic compounds. These arrangements can vary according to the change in functional groups (Functional isomers), no. of chains (Chains isomers) and the position of the groups (regioisomers).