Title: minimum structural change, principle of
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - minimum structural change, principle of
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.08186
Status: current

Definition
Principle that a chemical reaction is expected to occur with a minimum of bond changes or with a minimum redistribution of electrons (although more complex reaction cascades are also possible).

Example
  where the transfer of \(\ce{Cl}\) is accompanied by migration of only one carbon, rather than a more extensive molecular rearrangement involving migration of three methyls.

Source
- PAC, 2022, 94, 353. 'Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 2021)' on page 465 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2018-1010)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08186/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08186/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08186/xml

Citation: Citation: 'minimum structural change, principle of' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.08186
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-10T12:17:33+00:00