#CIP_rule

Atropisomers: things are tight, single bond won’t rotate

3 Comments / Chirality / By / , , ,

Atropisomers are stereoisomers resulting from hindered rotation about single bonds where the steric strain barrier to rotation is high enough to allow for the separation of the conformers. Note: Butane, for example, has conformations that are atropisomers; however, unlike the biaryls, the barrier to rotation is so small that they are interconverted rapidly at room temperature, and they are, for practical purposes, achiral. As a general rule of thumb, chiral molecules must have at least …

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Naming enantiomers: the left-(or right-) handed?

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Enantiomers are pair of molecules that exist in two forms that are mirror images of one another but cannot be superimposed one upon the other.  They are also referred to by chemists as chiral twins or handed molecules. Each twin is called an enantiomer. Naming of enantiomers is important to understand ‘which structure refers to which enantiomer?’. The chirality of organic molecules is described by the Cahn-Ingold-Prelog (CIP) system. This system is also referred to as the R/S convention …

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