Torquoselectivity

Torquoselectivity is a special kind of stereoselectivity observed in electrocyclic reactions in organic chemistry, defined as "the preference for inward or outward rotation of substituents in conrotatory or disrotatory electrocyclic reactions." Torquoselectivity is not to be confused with the normal diastereoselectivity seen in pericyclic reactions, as it represents a further level of selectivity beyond the Woodward-Hoffman rules. The name derives from the idea that the substituents in an electrocyclization appear to rotate over the course of the reaction, and thus selection of a single product is equivalent to selection of one direction of rotation (i.e. the direction of torque on the substituents). The concept was originally developed by Kendall N. Houk.