Stereoisomers are compounds that
Enantiomers(optical isomers) are one type of stereoisomer.
Compounds that can exist as enantiomers have non-superimposable mirror images due to being asymmetric (having no symmetry planes or centres).
Enantiomers are said to be "optically active" because they differ in only one physical property, namely, the direction in which a solution of the enantiomer rotates plane-polarised light.
Compounds that have a carbon atom with four different substituents are asymmetric.
The carbon that has the four different groups is referred to as the stereogenic (chiral) centre.
Molecules such as pentan-2-ol that can exist as enantiomers are said to be chiral.
- have the same molecular formula
- have the same atom-to-atom bonding sequence
- have a different arrangement of the atoms in space
Enantiomers(optical isomers) are one type of stereoisomer.
Compounds that can exist as enantiomers have non-superimposable mirror images due to being asymmetric (having no symmetry planes or centres).
Enantiomers are said to be "optically active" because they differ in only one physical property, namely, the direction in which a solution of the enantiomer rotates plane-polarised light.
One enantiomer rotates the plane of polarised light in one direction.
The other rotates it an equal amount in the opposite direction.
The other rotates it an equal amount in the opposite direction.
Compounds that have a carbon atom with four different substituents are asymmetric. The carbon that has the four different groups is referred to as the stereogenic (chiral) centre.
The stereogenic carbon is marked with a red dot in the structure of pentan-2-ol.
Molecules such as pentan-2-ol that can exist as enantiomers are said to be chiral.