Ring Puckering in Five-Membered Rings. I. General Theory

Abstract

As a general introduction to a subsequent series of papers on pseudorotation and five-membered rings, the two-ring puckering modes of a five-membered ring are discussed in general terms. Five cases are separated depending upon the nature of the potential function for each mode. Correlation diagrams connecting the various cases are given. Consistent with our basic policy, we have gone directly from fundamental theory to an arithmetical development using large digital computers. The classical section of this development is outlined. The quantum-mechanical section is developed in the following paper.