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FoxyFerengi@startrek.website ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

Some molecules have a rotation that is centered on a chirality carbon atom and is named by the way the other atoms of the molecule rotate. There are some rules to it, but L is levorotatory and means it rotates to the left or counter-clockwise. D is dextroroatory and spins to the right, or clockwise.

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protist@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
These terms can describe any molecule, btw, doesn’t have to contain carbon

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- deranger@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ 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.
  
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  - protist@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ 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?
    
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    deranger@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ 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. It’s much more specific and isn’t related to polarization of light.
    
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- FoxyFerengi@startrek.website ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago
  Fair! I’ve only taken organic chemistry so far, so that’s what I remembered
  
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