Chemistry 1027A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Racemic Mixture, Methamphetamine, Phocomelia

• School: Western University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: Chemistry 1027A/B
• Professor: Felix Lee

Document Summary

Achiral objects mirror each other: superimposable - if flipped, can be laid on top of each other. Chiral objects do not mirror each other: non-superimposable: if flipped, (cid:272)a(cid:374)"t (cid:271)e laid o(cid:374) top of o(cid:374)e a(cid:374)other. Medical example: situs inversus is a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions. When you have 4 different colours (different atoms) mirror image is chiral. Whe(cid:374) you do(cid:374)"t have 4 (2 would have to be the same) the mirror image would be the exact same compound achiral. Two mirror images: same formula, same connectivity, non-superimposable mirror images. Same chemistry: behave differently with other chiral molecules, rotate plane-polarized light in opposite direction, so also called optical isomers. Examples: carvone caraway seeds vs. sesame oil, limonene lemon vs. orange. The receptors in our nose are chiral, and can distinguish between two enantiomers.