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Topic: optical isomers help  (Read 3647 times)

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Offline lord12

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optical isomers help
« on: November 27, 2006, 12:00:55 AM »
what is the best way to known whether a molecular structure has an optical isomer counterpart? i'm not good at visualising. i known if the central atom has four different groups attached to it, then optical isomerism is possible. But, is there a sure way to known if something has an optical isomer? thanks


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Offline Dan

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Re: optical isomers help
« Reply #1 on: November 27, 2006, 04:22:23 AM »
Draw out the structure
Then draw the mirror image
Are these two structures superimposable? yes = achiral, no = chiral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirality_(chemistry)
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Offline AWK

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Re: optical isomers help
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2006, 05:05:00 AM »
See discussion on a chirality on this forum, eg:
http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=11487.0
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