Chiral carbon: Difference between revisions
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A chiral [[Carbon|carbon]] is a carbon [[Atom|atom]] which has 4 different groups attached. For each [[Chiral_carbon|chiral carbon]] in a molecule there are 2 optical isomers. This increases exponentially with more chiral carbons, so a molecule with 2 chiral centers would have 4 optical isomers, and a molecule with 3 would have 8 optical isomers. This can be calcultated by 2 | A chiral [[Carbon|carbon]] is a carbon [[Atom|atom]] which has 4 different groups attached. For each [[Chiral_carbon|chiral carbon]] in a molecule there are 2 optical isomers. This increases exponentially with more chiral carbons, so a molecule with 2 chiral centers would have 4 optical isomers, and a molecule with 3 would have 8 optical isomers. This can be calcultated by 2<sup>n</sup> where n is the number of chiral carbons. In nature often only one optical isomer is produced, for example only L isomer amino acids are produced in translation. | ||
Revision as of 04:52, 21 November 2015
A chiral carbon is a carbon atom which has 4 different groups attached. For each chiral carbon in a molecule there are 2 optical isomers. This increases exponentially with more chiral carbons, so a molecule with 2 chiral centers would have 4 optical isomers, and a molecule with 3 would have 8 optical isomers. This can be calcultated by 2n where n is the number of chiral carbons. In nature often only one optical isomer is produced, for example only L isomer amino acids are produced in translation.