Most information on conformational isomerism comes from single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies.

Some important examples of conformational isomerism include:

Larger molecules often exist in multiple stable geometries (conformational isomerism) that are close in energy on the potential energy surface.

Resonance is distinguished from tautomerism and conformational isomerism, which involve the formation of isomers, thus the rearrangement of the nuclear positions.

In chemistry, conformational isomerism is a form of stereoisomerism in which the isomers can be interconverted exclusively by rotations about formally single bonds.

For some molecules such as those of n-butane, there can be special versions of staggered conformations called gauche and anti; see first Newman projection diagram in Conformational isomerism.

Conformational isomerism is a form of isomerism that describes the phenomenon of molecules with the same structural formula but with different shapes due to rotations about one or more bonds.

Cyclohexane conformations have been extensively studied in organic chemistry because they are the classical example of conformational isomerism and have noticeable influence on the physical and chemical properties of cyclohexane.

Whereas the six-membered ring adopts a stable chair or boat conformation (see conformational isomerism) enhancing the anomeric effect, five-membered ring pucker results in sugars and sugar analogs of the furanose form having a less pronounced anomeric effect.

Like other large molecules and biopolymers, DNA often exists in multiple stable geometries (that is, it exhibits conformational isomerism) and configurational, quantum states which are close to each other in energy on the potential energy surface of the DNA molecule.

Etravirine is a diarylpyrimidine (DAPY), a type of organic molecule with some conformational isomerism that can bind the enzyme reverse transcriptase in multiple conformations, allowing for a more robust interaction between etravirine and the enzyme, even in the presence of mutations.