conformation

English

Rotation about single bond of butane to interconvert one conformation to another. The staggered conformation on the right is a conformer, while the eclipsed conformation on the left is a transition state between conformers. Above: Newman projection; below: depiction of spatial orientation.

Etymology

From Latin confōrmātiō. By surface analysis, conform +‎ -ation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɑnfɚˈmeɪʃən/, /kɑn.foʊɹˈmeɪʃən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʃən
• Homophone: confirmation (in some dialects)

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

conformation (countable and uncountable, plural conformations)

1. The act of conforming; the act of producing conformity.
2. The state of being conformed; agreement
   • 1866, William Lobscheid, Chinese Emigration to the West Indies:

     I was much struck with the gaiety of the creoles , whose exterior told a stranger that education had been doing something among them in these solitudes ; and as all the parties kissed the Bible in conformation with the law of England

4. Structure, the arrangement of parts of some thing; form; arrangement.
   • 1650, John Bulwer, “The First Scene. Certain Fashions of the Head, Affected and Contrived by the Pragmatical Invention and Artificial Endeavours of Many Nations.”, in Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d; or, The Artificial Changeling. […], London: […] J. Hardesty, […], →OCLC, page 1:

     Sennertus [Daniel Sennert] alſo, vvhere he vvrites De morbis Figuræ, reckons amongſt other cauſes of the ill conformation of mens heads, That they are novv and then induced after the birth, vvhilſt the tender Heads of Infants are by Midvvives and Nurſes formed after a divers manner, vvhile they are involved in head-bands, & moulded vvith their hands, according to their irregular and varying phanſies.

   • 1853, David Low, On the Domesticated Animals of the British Islands:

     One may see well the advantages of this form from the coach - box of our heavily - loaded public vehicles , where animals of different conformation are yoked together

5. (physical chemistry) The spatial arrangement of a group of atoms in a molecule as a result of rotation about a covalent bond which remains unbroken.
   • 1980, Bernard Miller, Organic Chemistry, the Basis of Life:

     The more stable conformation has the methyl group in an equatorial position , since this minimizes repulsions between axial substituents

Synonyms

• (act of conforming): conformance

Derived terms

• boat conformation
• chair conformation
• chromosome conformation capture
• coconformation
• conformational
• malconformation
• misconformation
• multiconformation
• osmoconformation
• thermoconformation

Related terms

• conform
• conformity

Translations

the act of conforming; the act of producing conformity

• Bulgarian: приспособяване (bg) n (prisposobjavane), подчинение (bg) n (podčinenie)
• Hungarian: alkalmazkodás (hu)

the state of being conformed; agreement; hence; structure

• Bulgarian: строеж (bg) m (stroež), устройство (bg) n (ustrojstvo), форма (bg) f (forma)
• Hungarian: alakzat (hu), szerkezet (hu), struktúra (hu)
• Italian: conformazione (it) f

spatial arrangement of a group of atoms in a molecule as a result of rotation about a covalent bond which remains unbroken

• French: conformation (fr) f
• German: Konformation (de) f
• Indonesian: konformasi
• Italian: conformazione (it) f
• Polish: konformacja f

See also

• allostery
• configuration

Further reading

• Conformational isomerism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

conformation f (plural conformations)

1. conformation

Further reading

• “conformation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Interlingua

Noun

conformation (plural conformationes)

1. conformation