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These include meso compounds, cis–trans isomers, E-Z isomers, and non-enantiomeric optical isomers. Diastereomers seldom have the same physical properties. In the example shown below, the meso form of tartaric acid forms a diastereomeric pair with both levo- and dextro-tartaric acids, which form an enantiomeric pair.
There are three common naming conventions for specifying one of the two enantiomers (the absolute configuration) of a given chiral molecule: the R/S system is based on the geometry of the molecule; the (+)- and (−)- system (also written using the obsolete equivalents d- and l-) is based on its optical rotation properties; and the D/L system is based on the molecule's relationship to ...
In chemistry, chirality usually refers to molecules. Two mirror images of a chiral molecule are called enantiomers or optical isomers. Pairs of enantiomers are often designated as "right-", "left-handed" or, if they have no bias, "achiral". As polarized light passes through a chiral molecule, the plane of polarization, when viewed along the ...
Different enantiomers or diastereomers of a compound were formerly called optical isomers due to their different optical properties. [29] At one time, chirality was thought to be restricted to organic chemistry, but this misconception was overthrown by the resolution of a purely inorganic compound, a cobalt complex called hexol , by Alfred ...
Isomerism refers to the existence or possibility of isomers. Isomers do not necessarily share similar chemical or physical properties . Two main forms of isomerism are structural (or constitutional) isomerism, in which bonds between the atoms differ; and stereoisomerism (or spatial isomerism), in which the bonds are the same but the relative ...
One example is the chiral amino acid alanine, which has two optical isomers, and they are labeled according to which isomer of glyceraldehyde they come from. On the other hand, glycine , the amino acid derived from glyceraldehyde, has no optical activity, as it is not chiral (it's achiral).
Diastereomerism can also occur at a double bond, where the cis vs trans relative positions of substituents give two non-superposable isomers. Many conformational isomers are diastereomers as well. In the case of diastereomerism occurring at a double bond, E-Z , or entgegen and zusammen (German), is used in notating nomenclature of alkenes .
One of the two meso isomers of 1,2,3,4-tetrafluorospiropentane, with S 4 symmetry. Since a meso isomer has a superposable mirror image, a compound with a total of n chiral centers cannot attain the theoretical maximum of 2 n stereoisomers if one of the stereoisomers is meso. [4] A meso isomer need not have a mirror plane.