https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.I03295
A chemical reaction, the principal product of which is
isomeric
with the principal reactant. An
intramolecular
isomerization that involves the breaking or making of bonds is a special case of a
molecular rearrangement
. Isomerization does not necessarily imply
molecular rearrangement
(e.g. in the case of the interconversion of conformational isomers).
Source:
PAC, 1994, 66, 1077. (Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1994)) on page 1129 [Terms] [Paper]