[themug05]

this is a question about chirality and thanks for all the help yall can offer and i appreciate the time and effort yall put in...wanted to thank yall in advance

With the aid of suitable examples, show that asymmetry is both necessary and sufficient for chirality whereas the presence of a stereo (genic) center is not.

[Mitch]

Just show 2 examples. For the stereogenic example use a meso-compound.

[themug05]

well i'm taking the summer course and i been outta town the first two weeks. i went oversea because my grandpa died in vietnam. so i'm kinda slow on all this. i'm not too sure what meso-compound is and i think you also have to explain it. this is a take home quiz for me because it is a make up and i just cant get the hold of it. thanks for your help and effort. if there's more you can do, i really appreciated it

[Yggdrasil]

The stereochemistry section in the wikipedia article listed below gives a good example of a meso compound versus chiral compounds:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartaric_acid

[themug05]

can any of yall help me explain this though...i dont understand it too much...thanks...it's really helping me a lot

[Dan]

Stereochemistry is a subject that is difficult to discuss on message boards because it's very difficult to explain anything without loads of diagrams. I suggest the following books.

Organic chemistry by Clayden, Greeves, Warren & Wothers deals very well with stereochemistry. I strongly suggest buying it, or getting it out of the library.

If you can get hold of it, "Stereochemistry at a glance" by Eames and Peach is also very good for stereochemistry.