Stereo-Hygiene
Definition: A best-practice mindset and operational discipline aimed at preventing stereochemical errors, ambiguity, or degradation in chemical and pharmaceutical work.
Context: Stereo-hygiene encompasses correct nomenclature usage, explicit stereochemical specification, proper analytical controls, avoidance of configurational ambiguity, and routine checks for racemization or epimerization. It is the practical countermeasure to stereo-sloppy behavior.
Example: Explicitly reporting configuration (R/S), enantiomeric ratio, analytical method, and conditions that could induce racemization in experimental sections and regulatory filings.
Related Terms: Stereo-Sloppy; Chiral Literacy; Misassignment of Configuration; Stereochemical Due Diligence
Reference: Ariens, E. J. Stereochemistry, a basis for sophisticated nonsense in pharmacokinetics and clinical pharmacology. Medical Research Reviews, 4, 197-236 (1984).
Ariens EJ. Stereochemistry, a basis for sophisticated nonsense in pharmacokinetics and clinical pharmacology. Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1984, 26, 663-668. DOI: 10.1007/BF00541922
These works expose what happens when chiral hygiene is absent-misleading PK/PD data and unsafe assumptions.