Isomerisation
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In chemistry, isomerization or isomerisation is the transformation of a molecule into a different isomer. In some molecules and under some conditions, isomerisation occurs spontaneously. Many isomers are equal or roughly equal in bond energy, and so interconvert relatively freely.
This is usually employed in organic chemistry, where fuels, such as pentane a straight-chain isomer is heated in the presence of a platinum catalyst (see image). The resulting mixture of straight- and branched-chain isomers then has to be separated.
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