Stereoisomerism Flashcards
What is a stereoisomer?
Isomers with the same MF same SF different spacial arrangement of atoms
What is E-Z isomerism?
C=C with two different groups attached to each carbon
What is optical isomerism?
Contains a chiral centre with 4 different groups attached
What are enantiomers?
Mirror images that aren’t super imposable
How can enantiomers be identified?
They rotate the plane of plane polarised light by the same amount but in opposite directions
What is a racemic mixture/ racemate?
An equimolar mix of 2 enantiomers
How many enantiomers usually occur in nature?
Usually one hence why the other enantiomer can have harmful side effects e.g thalidomide where the body naturally racemises the mixture