* 1,3-Diaxial Interactions: When both substituents are equatorial, they experience minimal steric strain. However, if both were axial, they would experience significant 1,3-diaxial interactions with the axial hydrogens on the cyclohexane ring, making this conformation highly unstable.
* Larger Substituent in Equatorial Position: Bromine is larger than chlorine. The larger bromine atom is more stable in the equatorial position, where it has more space and experiences less steric strain.
* Preference for Chlorine Axial: While chlorine is not as large as bromine, it still experiences some steric strain in the equatorial position. Because of this, the more stable conformation places chlorine in the axial position.
In summary, the combination of minimizing 1,3-diaxial interactions and placing the larger bromine atom in the more spacious equatorial position results in the most stable conformation having bromine axial and chlorine equatorial.
