The most strained cycloalkane is

The most strained cycloalkane is
  1. cyclopropane
  2. cyclobutane
  3. cyclopentane
  4. cyclohexane

Solution

In cyclopropane, the $\mathrm{C-C-C}$ bond angles are $60^{\circ}$ whereas tetrahedral $109.5^{\circ}$ bond angles are expected.
The intense angle strain leads to nonlinear orbital overlap of its $\mathrm{sp}^{3}$ orbitals.
Because of the bond's instability, cyclopropane is more reactive than other alkanes. Since any three points make a plane and cyclopropane has only three carbons, cyclopropane is planar.
The $\mathrm{H-C-H }$ bond angle is $115^{\circ}$ whereas $106^{\circ}$ is expected as in the $\mathrm{CH}_{2}$ groups of propane.

Asked in: JEE-TOPICTESTS-CHEMISTRY

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