4.1 Stereoisomerism Flashcards
What is a chiral centre?
An atom that is bonded to four different groups or atoms.
What are enantiomers?
They are non-superimposable mirror image forms of each other that rotate the plane polarised light in different directions.
What molecules are optically active and what does it mean?
Molecules that have a chiral centre. It means these molecules rotate the plane of polarised light.
What does a racemic mixture mean?
It’s an EQUIMOLAR mixture of both ENANTIOMERS that produce no overall rotation of the plane polarised light due to both enantiomers cancelling each other out due to rotating in opposite directions (e.g clockwise and anticlockwise)
Why can racemic mixtures be dangerous?
As racemic are very difficult to separate they are usually sold together. But both enantiomers have different properties and effects. This can be dangerous if you consume one and one of the ‘unwanted’ enantiomers have dangerous effects.
