Examples of enantiomers

Enantiomer, also known as enantiomorph, is one of two items that are related to each other in the same way that the right hand is related to the left—that is, as mirror images that cannot be reoriented to appear identical. Because its mirror image are identical, an object with a plane of symmetry cannot be an enantiomer. such as those of lactic acid, are chemically identical save in their reactions with other dissymmetric molecules and polarised light. Because many crystals are arrangements of alternate right- and left-handed versions of a single molecule, enantiomers are essential in crystallography. The crystal’s comprehensive description specifies how the shapes interact with one another.

What are Enantiomers?

Enantiomers are isomers in which the atoms in two molecules are in the same order but are arranged differently in space. Diastereomerism (also known as ‘cis-trans isomerism’) and optical isomerism (also known as ‘enantiomerism’ and ‘chirality’) are the two basic kinds of stereoisomerism. When asymmetric centres are present, such as a carbon with four distinct groups attached to it, optical isomers are created. 

Two optical isomers are referred to as enantiomers ( isomers that are reflections of each other). In one isomer, every stereocenter has the opposite arrangement in the other. They have the same chemical structure and chemical linkages, but the three-dimensional positioning of atoms differs, making them mirror images of each other, much like a person’s left and right hands.Enantiomers have the same physical attributes as each other except for how they interact with distinct optical isomers of other molecules and the direction in which they rotate polarised light.

Define enantiomers and diastereomers with examples

Examine your hands: they’re non-superimposable mirror images of one another. This means they are mirror pictures of one another, but you can’t stack them on top of one another and expect them to line up perfectly.

Each of your hands is an enantiomer of the other. This is due to the fact that your hands’ connections (or fingers) are attached in a different order. They are, however, joined in the exact opposite sequence, making them mirror images.

Imagine that your left hand’s digits were messed up, and your thumb is now stuck between your middle and ring fingers. Like enantiomers, each hand has the same connections (or fingers), but they are in a different sequence. 

Your hands, on the other hand, are no longer mirror reflections of each other. As a result, they’d be diastereomers.

Enantiomers and diastereomers are the two primary types of stereoisomers (chemicals having the same linkages but different orientations).

An enantiomer: is a non-superimposable mirror counterpart of another stereoisomer.

A stereoisomer: containing two or more stereocenters is called a diastereomer, and the isomers are not mirror reflections of each other.

What are examples of enantiomers?

Chiral chemicals rotate plane-polarized light from a physical standpoint. Light is electromagnetic radiation that contains electrical and magnetic forces that vibrate in all directions, but at right angles to the path of propagation of light. Optical activity is the rotation of plane-polarized light by chiral substances.

Plane-polarized light has an electrical vector that is restricted to only one direction, and its vibrations have chiral characteristics. The light rotates when plane-polarized light interacts with chiral substances.

This is a property of chiral substances. The chiral chemical is dextrorotatory and has notation if it rotates plane-polarized light in a clockwise manner.

Levorotatory is the enantiomer that rotates polarised light anticlockwise.

The two enantiomers rotate plane-polarized light in opposite directions, to the left and right, respectively.

When enantiomers interact with other chiral substances, they exhibit distinct chemical reactions. They could be chiral enzyme active sites or chiral receptor molecules.

Properties of enantiomers

Once you understand the notion of enantiomers and examples, you may readily grasp the attributes of these material pairings. Let’s look at the characteristics of enantiomers.

• They are physically and chemically related substances that exist in pairs.

• Based on how they bend polarised light, they are classed as dextrorotatory or levorotatory compounds.

• Physical features such as melting temperature, condensation point, boiling point, NMR spectra, and infrared absorptions are all the same.

• Even if the melting temperatures of the individual compounds are the same, the melting point of the mixture could be different.

• The only way to identify the difference between two enantiomers is to use chiroptical techniques. One such method is the optical rotation of polarised photons.

• Bond angles, bond lengths, and chiroptical characteristics are all influenced by these factors.

Conclusion

Enantiomer, also known as enantiomorph, is one of two items that are related to each other in the same way that the right hand is related to the left, that is, as mirror images that cannot be reoriented to appear identical. Enantiomers are isomers in which the atoms in two molecules are in the same order but are arranged differently in space. Two optical isomers are referred to as enantiomers. Enantiomers have the same physical attributes as each other except for how they interact with distinct optical isomers of other molecules and the direction in which they rotate polarised light.