How to Draw Newman Projections

How to Draw Newman Projections

Dr. Mark Coster

Organic Chemistry Explained You probably don't want me designing your house. I can't look at oorplans and 'see' what the nished building will be like. Similarly, when it came to understanding molecules in 3D, I wasn't a natural. I particularly remember being bad at Newman projections! And yet, as a research organic chemist, my specialty was stereochemistry. How does that work?!

How do you grok* stereochemistry?

It boils down to one thing - practice! I thought stereochemistry was an interesting challenge, and I also made an early investment in a molecular model set. I made models of everything and tried to get my head around how the object in my hand related to the drawings on the page. Slowly the puzzles t together, and eventually I understood it better than the rest of the class.

Birth of a new man...

Once you've mastered the art of naming alkanes, sooner or later in organic chemistry, you're going to have to draw Newman projections. And not just draw them, but convert between them and line-bond (aka bond-line or zig-zag) structures. Refer to this link (https://organicchemexplained.c...) to access the video where I've distilled the process for doing this, and I'll guide you through two examples.

Stop drawing bad structures!

Download structure-drawing templates, as seen in the video found in this link (https://organicchemexplained.c...)Â to draw better structures that your Prof. can understand in the exam!

Get the templates now!

"But model sets are expensive!"

Or, "I've lost mine", or "they take too long to use", or "damn atoms and bonds are too hard to pull apart", or... There's a lot reasons why a model set might not be for you. I totally get it. But, you still need practice. What's a chemist to do?

How to Draw Newman Projections

Organic Chemistry Explained

Technology to the rescue!

I feel your pain, so I created some interactive models for you, below. Grab a pen and some paper, and use the model to draw Newman projections for each of these from the point of view indicated by the beady little eye. You can check your answers by expanding the tab below each question!

Practice Questions

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How to Draw Newman Projections

Organic Chemistry Explained

Answers on Practice 1 & 2 (respectively)

https://organicchemexplained.com/newman-projections/

Are you now a Newman Ninja?

Are you feeling con dent with these? Like a Newman ninja? Let me know in the comments below, and please tell me what you think of having practice questions with interactive molecules like this!

How to Draw Newman Projections

Organic Chemistry Explained

About the Author Dr. Mark Coster The 'team' is Dr. Mark Coster. :) Mark makes stu . When he’s not making stu , he’s teaching other people how to make stu . Mark was one of those kids who loved nothing more than to build things out of Lego. He still feels that joy, but now his ‘stu ’ is molecules that he builds from atoms. He occasionally writes biographies in third person. ;) And he still likes Lego too.

Organic Chemistry Explained

How to Draw Newman Projections