Configurational Isomers (Stereoisomers Part 2)

Subject: Organic Chemistry

Configurational isomers, unlike conformational isomers, require bond breaking to interconvert. The deep dive focuses on two main types: enantiomers, which are nonsuperimposable mirror images with identical properties except for optical activity, and diastereomers, which are not mirror images and possess distinct properties. Chirality, or handedness, is central to understanding these isomers, with chiral centers (sp3 hybridized atoms with four different substituents) being key identifiers. A special case, meso compounds, possesses chiral centers but is achiral due to internal symmetry, exhibiting no optical activity. Finally, cis-trans isomers are a specific subtype of diastereomers.

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