Welcome to the Newman Projection tutorial!

This article will review how to rotate a conformer in the Newman Projection Interactive. If they haven't, you may want to ask your instructor to assign the identical tutorial for your course. That version will allow you to follow along with these steps directly.

About Newman Projections

A Newman Projection is a representation of a molecule viewed along the axis between two atoms bonded to each other through which rotations can occur. 

Example Question

In this example, there is a front carbon atom and a back carbon atom. Each rotation will rotate the back carbon atom 60° in a clockwise direction. Your goal is to draw Conformer A and then rotate the back carbon atoms until the substituents are in the order shown in Conformer B.  In this question both versions are shown along with a diagram highlighting the back and front sections, but not all questions will have these. To see the example images in questions, scroll down from the question statement. If there is an example, clicking the image will zoom in on the image.

Start to draw Conformer A by adding in the substituents. This is done by selecting a bond within the Newman Projection and selecting the substituents from the options provided in the Atoms, Bonds and Rings menu. Then, use the “rotate” button to rotate the back carbon 60° in a clockwise direction until the substituents are arranged identical to Conformer B.

Note that unlike in other organic drawing modules, dimmed bonds and areas indicate distance from the front of the molecule. You will only need to select bonds to adjust the atoms of the substituents from the default hydrogens.

You're all set! As always, feel free to reach out to support@aktiv.com with any questions.