In chemistry, a pseudorotation is a set of intramolecular movements of attached groups (i.e., ligands) on a highly symmetric molecule, leading to a molecule indistinguishable from the initial one. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) defines a pseudorotation as a "stereoisomerization resulting in a structure that appears to have been produced by rotation of the entire initial molecule", the result of which is a "product" that is "superposable on the initial one, unless different positions are distinguished by substitution, including isotopic substitution."[1]
Well-known examples are the intramolecular isomerization of trigonal bipyramidal compounds by the Berry pseudorotation mechanism, and the out-of-plane motions of carbon atoms exhibited by cyclopentane, leading to the interconversions it experiences between its many possible conformers (envelope, twist).[2] Note, no angular momentum is generated by this motion.[citation needed] In these and related examples, a small displacement of the atomic positions leads to a loss of symmetry until the symmetric product re-forms (see image example below), where these displacements are typically along low-energy pathways.[citation needed] The Berry mechanism refers to the facile interconversion of axial and equatorial ligand in MX5 types of compounds, e.g. D3h-symmetric PF5 (shown).[1][3] Finally, in a formal sense, the term pseudorotation is intended to refer exclusively to dynamics in symmetrical molecules, though mechanisms of the same type are invoked for lower symmetry molecules as well.[citation needed]
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