Conformational analysis

This document discusses the conformations of cyclobutane. It notes that cyclobutane has a four-membered ring structure with bond angles of 90 degrees rather than the expected 109.5 degrees, resulting in 26.3 kcal/mol of strain energy. The document describes how cyclobutane can adopt puckered conformations to reduce torsional strain and buckle into a butterfly shape in 3D to further relieve strain. Cyclobutane can also undergo ring inversion with a low barrier of 1.45 kcal/mol by passing through a transition state with a planar ring structure. Different conformations of cyclobutane, including eclipsed and staggered, are represented