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Concept
Enantiomer
Summary
In chemistry, an enantiomer (/ɪˈnænti.əmər, ɛ-, -oʊ-/ ih-NAN-tee-ə-mər; from Ancient Greek ἐνάντιος (enántios) 'opposite', and μέρος (méros) 'part') – also called optical isomer, antipode, or optical antipode – is one of two stereoisomers that are non-superposable onto their own . Enantiomers are much like one's right and left hands, when looking at the same face, they cannot be superposed onto each other. No amount of reorientation in three spatial dimensions will allow the four unique groups on the chiral carbon (see chirality) to line up exactly. The number of stereoisomers a molecule has can be determined by the number of chiral carbons it has. Stereoisomers include both enantiomers and diastereomers.
Diastereomers, like enantiomers, share the same molecular formula and are non-superposable onto each other; however, they are not mirror images of each other.
A molecule with chirality rotates plane-polarized light. A mixture of equal amounts of each enantiomer, a racemic mixture or a racemate, does not rotate light.
Absolute configuration
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 enantiomers of glyceraldehyde.
The R/S system is based on the molecule's geometry with respect to a chiral center. The R/S system is assigned to a molecule based on the priority rules assigned by Cahn–Ingold–Prelog priority rules, in which the group or atom with the largest atomic number is assigned the highest priority and the group or atom with the smallest atomic number is assigned the lowest priority.
The (+)- and (−)- is used to specify a molecule's optical rotation — the direction that the molecule rotates in polarized light. When a molecule is denoted dextrorotatory it is rotating the plane of polarized light clockwise and can also be denoted as (+).
Official source
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