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Chirality (/ k aɪ ˈ r æ l ɪ t i /) is a property of asymmetry important in several branches of science. The word chirality is derived from the Greek χείρ (kheir), "hand", a familiar chiral object. An object or a system is chiral if it is distinguishable from its mirror image; that is, it cannot be superposed (not to be confused with ...
A chiral phenomenon is one that is not identical to its mirror image (see the article on mathematical chirality). The spin of a particle may be used to define a handedness , or helicity, for that particle, which, in the case of a massless particle, is the same as chirality.
Chirality is an important concept for stereochemistry and biochemistry. Most substances relevant to biology are chiral, such as carbohydrates (sugars, starch, and cellulose), all but one of the amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins, and the nucleic acids. Naturally occurring triglycerides are often chiral, but not always. In ...
An object that is not chiral is said to be achiral. A chiral object and its mirror image are said to be enantiomorphs. The word chirality is derived from the Greek χείρ (cheir), the hand, the most familiar chiral object; the word enantiomorph stems from the Greek ἐναντίος (enantios) 'opposite' + μορφή (morphe) 'form'.
For instance, a metal rod is not chiral, since its appearance in a mirror is not distinct from itself. However a screw or light bulb base (or any sort of helix) is chiral; an ordinary right-handed screw thread, viewed in a mirror, would appear as a left-handed screw (very uncommon) which could not possibly screw into an ordinary (right-handed ...
Chirality with hands and two enantiomers of a generic amino acid The direction of current flow and induced magnetic flux follow a "handness" relationship. The term chiral / ˈ k aɪ r əl / describes an object, especially a molecule, which has or produces a non-superposable mirror image of itself.
Homochirality is a uniformity of chirality, or handedness.Objects are chiral when they cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, the left and right hands of a human are approximately mirror images of each other but are not their own mirror images, so they are chiral.
Chiral purity is a measure of the purity of a chiral drug. Other synonyms employed include enantiomeric excess , enantiomer purity, enantiomeric purity, and optical purity. Optical purity is an obsolete term since today most of the chiral purity measurements are done using chromatographic techniques (not based on optical principles).