View down -3 axis | Oblique view | View down 2 axis |
Cyclo-hexane in its so-called "chair" conformation has a threefold rotary-inversion axis through the centre with 3 twofold rotation axes perpendicular to it. In addition there are 3 mirror planes parallel to the -3 axis plus a point of inversion.
The point-group symmetry for this molecule is given the crystallographic symbol -3 2/m, which is usually shortened to -3 m. (This should not be confused with the cubic crystallographic point group m -3, which possesses four threefold axes.)
© Copyright 1997-2006. Birkbeck College, University of London. | Author(s): Jeremy Karl Cockcroft |