The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Chirality, a never-ending source of confusion

På svenska

Author

Summary, in English

In this Discussion a few points of confusion concerning chirality are clarified. The term chirodescriptive is proposed for such space groups that lack inversion centres, reflection planes, glide planes or rotary-inversion axes and thus can contain enantiopure, chiral objects. It is pointed out that chiral compounds can (and often do) crystallise in non-chirodescriptive space group when they occur as racemates and in such cases there is no incompatibility between chirality and mirror planes or centres of inversions. We also propose the term raceomorphism to describe the relationship between a conglomerate and a collection of racemic crystals of the same compound.

Publishing year

2009

Language

English

Pages

607-608

Publication/Series

Zeitschrift für Kristallographie

Volume

224

Issue

12

Document type

Journal article (comment)

Publisher

Oldenbourg Verlag

Topic

  • Organic Chemistry

Keywords

  • Raceomorphism
  • Enantiomorphism
  • Chiral
  • Chirodescriptive
  • Chirogenic

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0044-2968