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Enantiomers (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

These terms can describe any molecule, btw, doesn't have to contain carbon

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Not any molecule, it’s gotta be able to have stereoisomers in the first place. There’s no R or S water for example. D/L notation is for biology.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Well yes, it does have to have chirality, I just meant it doesn't have to contain any specific elements.

I'm definitely no expert, but isn't the D/L notation used in all of chemistry? Sometimes it's written Δ/Λ, but that's the same thing. Doesn't it just describe a molecule's geometry in a different way from R/S?

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

D/L refers to the entire molecule and how it polarizes light whereas R/S looks at every chiral center and has a priority system to assign. I’ve only really seen D/L in biochemistry, regular chemistry is using R/S notation. D/L is the older less precise notation. R/S is much more specific and isn’t related to polarization of light.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Fair! I've only taken organic chemistry so far, so that's what I remembered

this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
403 points (97.0% liked)

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