Main content
MCAT
Course: MCAT > Unit 9
Lesson 5: Stereochemistry- Stereochemistry questions
- Chiral drugs
- Structural (constitutional) isomers
- Chiral vs achiral
- Stereoisomers, enantiomers, and chirality centers
- Identifying chirality centers
- R,S system
- R,S system practice
- Optical activity
- Enantiomers and diastereomers
- Cis–trans isomerism
- E–Z system
- Conformations of ethane
- Conformational analysis of butane
© 2023 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Enantiomers and diastereomers
How to tell the difference between enantiomers and diastereomers.
Want to join the conversation?
- If you look at the definition of enantiomers and diastereomers, does this mean that every stereoisomer that is not an enantiomer, is a diastereomer? Then, what is the difference between diastereomer and constitutional isomers?(8 votes)
- Yes, every stereoisomer that is not an enantiomer is a diastereomer.
Constitutional isomers have different connectivities — some atoms in one structure are connected to different structures.
Diastereomers have the same connectivity but different geometries — some of their bonds are pointing in different directions in space.(9 votes)
- Are there any videos talk about forms of sugars, how to draw and name them ?(4 votes)
- In the entire stereoisomerism playlist, there is no mention of geometric isomers.
In this video and the previous one, Sal and Jay say that the only types of stereoisomers are enantiomers and diastereomers, so where do geometric Isomers fit in?(3 votes)- There are two types of stereoisomers- 1. Geometric isomer & 2. Optical isomer
Whereas, optical isomer can be divided into two constituents enantiomers and diastereomers
Hope it helps(4 votes)
- bromo chloro cyclopropane has 4 stereisomers according to the formula but if we compare each we get
2 stereoisomers and 4 diastereomers so total=6 right?
comparing 1 and 2=enantiomer
comparing 3 and 4 =enantiomer
comparing 2 and 3 =diastereomer
comparing 2 and 4 =diastereomer
comparing 1 and 3=diastereomer
comparing 1 and 4 =diastereomer ?(3 votes)- There still are only 4 stereoisomers, just 6 relationships exist between them. So you can see that any stereoisomer in this example can be considered either an enantiomer or diastereomer but it depends on the one you compare it with.(5 votes)
- what is the difference in the terms superposable and superimposable regarding stereoisomers ?(2 votes)
- The technical difference is: superimposable means that two objects can be superimposed on each other, while superposable means that two objects can be superimposed to coincide exactly.
For example, two enantiomers can be superimposed on each other, but they won’t match exactly.
Two identical molecules can be superposed on each other and they will match exactly.
Many chemists use the terms as if they both meant superposable.(5 votes)
- All stereoisomers fit into these two categories of enantiomers and diastereomers, right?
and all stereoisomers are non superimposable, right?(2 votes)- Yes, you're right on both points. (Note that if two molecules are superimposable then they must be identical molecules - they can't be isomers of each other in any way.)(4 votes)
- I have a doubt, I understand that an enantiomer has optical activity, and do diastereomers also have optical activity?(2 votes)
- Have another look at the definitions for these terms.
It is best to avoid referring to an individual molecule as an enantiomer (or diastereomer).
An individual molecule is an enantiomer or a diastereomer of another molecule — i.e. these terms describe a relationship. This is why Jay talks about pairs of diastereomer*s* or enantiomer*s*.
Thus, in most cases a diastereomer is also an enantiomer — the exception being meso compounds§, which can have one or more diasteromers, but no enantiomers.
Optical isomers usually have optical activity — again the exception I know of are meso compounds.
§Note: Meso compounds are covered in the next video.(2 votes)
- How do the optical densities of diastereomers relate? I know opposite sign for enantiomers, but is it completely different for diastereomers since they have different properties?(2 votes)
- What is the difference between stereogenic centre and chiral centre? Are they the same(1 vote)
- No, the carbons of a double bond are stereogenic centres (because they show E/Z isomerism) but they aren’t chiral centres.(1 vote)
- If a pair of stereoisomers have a chiral center that flips when compared (ex: R to S), but a double bond whose stereochemistry does not change (ex: E that stays E), are they diastereomers or enantiomers (R,E vs S,E)?(1 vote)
Video transcript
- [Narrator] We've already
spent a lot of time talking about enantiomers. These are stereoisomers
that are nonsuperimposable mirror images of each other, and they have opposite configurations at all chirality centers. Diastereomers are also stereoisomers, but these are stereoisomers
that are nonsumperimposable, non-mirror images of each other. So these are stereoisomers
that are not enantiomers. And diastereomers have
opposite configurations at some chirality centers. If we look at this compound up here, we have a cyclopropane ring
with a bromine coming off, and a chlorine coming off. We know from earlier videos that there are two chirality centers. So this carbon is a chiral
center, and so is this one. The total number of
stereoisomers is two to the n, where n is equal to the
number of chiral centers. And since n is equal to
two for this drawing, we would expect to be able to
draw two to the second power, or four stereoisomers. So there should be a total
of four stereoisomers. Actually, two to the n is just a maximum, and we'll talk about that in later videos. So let's draw all four stereoisomers, and let's look at the
relationship between them. Let's think about how to
draw our four stereoisomers. For the first one, we
could have both halogens coming out at us in space, so I put the bromine on a wedge, and I put the chlorine on a wedge. Next, we could have
both halogens going away from us in space. So I put the bromine on a dash,
and same with the chlorine. Next, for our third
stereoisomer, we could have one halogen coming out at us, so I'll make that the bromine, and one going away from us. And for the last one, we
could just reverse it. We could have the bromine
going away from us, and the chlorine coming out at us. Next, let's look at the relationships between our stereoisomers. And let's start with the relationship between stereoisomer one
and stereoisomer two. Model sets really help
in stereo chemistry, so we're gonna look at
videos for a lot of these. Let's go look at the video
comparing stereoisomers one and stereoisomer two. On the left we have stereoisomer one. Both halogens are coming
out at us in space. On the right is stereoisomer two, where both halogens are
going away from us in space. If I hold these two
stereoisomers next to each other, and I rotate the one on the right, we can see that they're
actually mirror images of each other, and they're
nonsuperimposable mirror images. If I line up the chlorines,
then the bromines are not in the right position. And if I try to line up the bromines, now the chlorines are not
in the right position. So these are nonsuperimposable
mirror images of each other. These are enantiomers. So we saw in the video that
one and two are enantiomers of each other. They are nonsuperimposable mirror images, and they have opposite configurations at all chirality centers. And that's easy to see if you
look at the drawings, here. So at this carbon, we
have bromine on a wedge, and if we change it to a
dash, right, we see we have this one on the right. We look at this chiral center,
we have chlorine on a wedge, and here it's changed to a dash. So that's an opposite configuration
at both chiral centers, and so that's how we know,
that's one way of knowing that this one on the
right is the mirror image of the one on the left. They are enantiomers. Let's look at the relationship
between stereoisomers three and four. On the left is stereoisomer
three, with bromine up and chlorine down. On the right is four, with
bromine down and chlorine up. If we hold them together and
I rotate the one on the right, it's easy to see that these are
mirror images of each other, and they are nonsuperimposable. If I put the chlorines
on top of each other, now the bromines don't line up, and if I try to line up the bromines, then the chlorines don't. So these are nonsuperimposable
mirror images of each other. These are enantiomers. So three and four are
enantiomers of each other. They are nonsuperimposable mirror images, and they have opposite configurations at all chirality centers. So at this chiral center,
we have bromine on a wedge, and over here, we have bromine on a dash. At this chiral center, we
have chlorine on a dash, and over here, we have it on wedge. So we have opposite configurations at both chirality centers. Next, let's compare
stereoisomers two and three. So what's the relationship
between two and three? On the left is stereoisomer
two, with the bromine and the chlorine going
away from us in space. On the right is three, with bromine up and chlorine down. If I hold the two stereoisomers
next to each other, and I rotate the one on the right, we can see that these are not
mirror images of each other. The bromines look right,
but the chlorines don't. One chlorine is up, and
one chlorine is down. If I try to superimpose these, I can get the bromines to match, but not the chlorines. And if I try to make
the chlorines line up, then the bromines won't. So these are nonsuperimposable,
non-mirror images. These are diastereomers. We saw in the video that two and three are nonsuperimposable, and they're also non-mirror images. Therefore they are diastereomers. So let me write that down, here. So two and three represent
a pair of diastereomers, and diastereomers have
opposite configurations at some chirality centers. So if we look at this carbon,
we have bromine on a dash, and over here, we have bromine on a wedge. So that's opposite. But if we look at this one,
we have chlorine on a dash, and over here, we have chlorine on a dash. So that's the same. So we only have an opposite configuration at one chiral center. And so these are diastereomers. What about comparing
two, stereoisomer two, with stereoisomer four? So let's look at the video for that. On the left is stereoisomer two, with the bromine and
chlorine going away from us. On the right is four, with
bromine down and chlorine up. So we hold the two stereoisomers
next to each other, and we rotate the one on the right. And we can see that these
are not mirror images. The chlorines look right,
but the bromines don't. One bromine's down, and one bromine is up. If we try to superimpose
one on top of the other, the chlorines line up,
but not the bromines, and if I try matching the bromines, now the chlorines don't. So these are nonsuperimposable,
non-mirror images. These are diastereomers. So two and four are diastereomers. They are nonsuperimposable,
non-mirror images of each other. And they only have opposite configurations at some chirality centers,
in this case, one. So if we look at this chiral center, the bromine's on a dash, and we look at this one, the
bromine's also on a dash. So that's the same. If we look at this one,
the chlorine is on a dash, and over here, the chlorine is on a wedge. So that's an opposite configuration at only one chiral center. So two and four are diastereomers. What about comparing one and three? So, thinking about one and three. So we don't need a
video for this, anymore. I think we've got the hang of it. And if we look at this carbon,
we have bromine on a wedge, and at this carbon, we
have bromine on a wedge. So that's the same. At this carbon, we have
chlorine on a wedge, and at this one, we
have chlorine on a dash. So that's different. So we only have an opposite configuration at one chirality center. So one and three are
diastereomers of each other. And the same thing if you're thinking about one and four. Those would also be
diastereomers of each other.