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Stereochemistry

Field: Structure & Bonding

The study of the relative spatial arrangement of atoms that form the structure of molecules and their manipulation.

Sequence of Expressions

Definition

Enantiomers

Beginner
Let MM be a molecular structure represented by a set of coordinates P={(xi,yi,zi)}i=1N⊂R3P = \{(x_i, y_i, z_i)\}_{i=1}^N \subset \mathbb{R}^3. Define the reflection operator ρ:R3→R3\rho: \mathbb{R}^3 \to \mathbb{R}^3 across a plane Π\Pi (e.g., the yzyz-plane, Π:x=0\Pi: x=0) such that ρ(x,y,z)=(−x,y,z)\rho(x, y, z) = (-x, y, z). The mirror image of MM is M′=ρ(P)={(ρ(xi),ρ(yi),ρ(zi))}i=1NM' = \rho(P) = \{(\rho(x_i), \rho(y_i), \rho(z_i))\}_{i=1}^N. The pair (M,M′)(M, M') constitutes a pair of enantiomers if MM is chiral, which means that MM cannot be mapped onto M′M' by any rigid body transformation TT belonging to the group of rotations and translations SE(3)SE(3) (i.e., M≇T(M′)M \not\cong T(M') for all T∈SE(3)T \in SE(3)).