A Newman projection is a drawing that helps visualize the 3-dimensional structure of a molecule. This projection most commonly sights down a carbon-carbon bond, making it a very useful way to visualize the stereochemistry of alkanes. A Newman projection visualizes the conformation of a chemical bond from front to back, with the front atom represented by the intersection of three lines (a dot) and the back atom as a circle. The front atom is called proximal, while the back atom is called distal. This type of representation clearly illustrates the specific dihedral angle between the proximal and distal atoms.
This projection is named after American chemist Melvin Spencer Newman, who introduced it in 1952 as a partial replacement for Fischer projections, which are unable to represent conformations and thus conformers properly. This diagram style is an alternative to a sawhorse projection, which views a carbon–carbon bond from an oblique angle, or a wedge-and-dash style, such as a Natta projection. These other styles can indicate the bonding and stereochemistry, but not as much conformational detail.
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