An Electronic Theory of Isomerism

THE application of the Bohr theory to organic chemistry suggests a possible explanation of the hitherto unexplained isomerism of certain organic compounds. The electrons rotating in pairs around the four carbon valencies may possess either clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation with respect to the central carbon atom (Ramsay, Proc. Roy. Soc., xcii., A, p. 451, 1915-16). On the assumption that two of these pairs of electrons rotate in a clockwise and two in an anti-clockwise direction, it is possible to deduce that night isomerides of cinnamic acid may exist. It has long been known that four isomerides of cinnamic acid exist, whereas only two are possible on the ordinary structural formulæ.