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Isomer: Difference between revisions
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==Chirality== | ==Chirality== | ||
[[File:File_Chirality_with_hands.png|thumb|right|Two enantiomers of a generic amino acid that is chiral]] | [[File:File_Chirality_with_hands.png|thumb|right|Two enantiomers of a generic amino acid that is chiral]] | ||
A chiral molecule is a type of molecule that has a non-superimposable mirror image. The feature that is most often the cause of chirality in molecules is the presence of an asymmetric carbon atom, where the carbon is attached to four completely different functional groups. | A chiral molecule is a type of molecule that has a non-superimposable mirror image. The feature that is most often the cause of chirality in molecules is the presence of an asymmetric carbon atom, where the carbon is attached to four completely different functional groups. | ||
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One example of this is with the [[dissociative]] drug [[DXM]]. DXM, or dextromethorphan, is the isomer that rotates clockwise in plane-polarised light. It has antitussive (cough suppressant) and dissociative effects. Levomethorphan is the isomer that rotates anti-clockwise in plane-polarised light. This difference in rotation leads to different effects to DXM; levomethorphan is an opioid painkiller. | One example of this is with the [[dissociative]] drug [[DXM]]. DXM, or dextromethorphan, is the isomer that rotates clockwise in plane-polarised light. It has antitussive (cough suppressant) and dissociative effects. Levomethorphan is the isomer that rotates anti-clockwise in plane-polarised light. This difference in rotation leads to different effects to DXM; levomethorphan is an opioid painkiller. | ||
[[File:DXM_chirality.png|thumb|center|Two different chiral forms of DXM can give rise to radically different effects]] | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||