Above left is a local minimum energy structure for the cis-(H2O)5 cyclic structure. Above right is a water pentamer's mainly-trans cyclic, global minimum energy structure [115]. Both of these structures are chiral, existing fleetingly as enantiomers, and may interconvert through planar intermediates of slightly higher energies.
These animations use Jmol: an open-source Java viewer for chemical structures in 3D. Use the mouse for control.
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This page was established in 2001 and last updated by Martin Chaplin on 5 August, 2021
