chiral
Non-superimposable on reflection
Chiral describes an object or molecule that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image—like left and right hands, which are reflections of each other but not identical.
The term appears mainly in chemistry, where chiral molecules have distinct left-handed and right-handed forms that may behave differently in biological systems: The drug's chiral forms have different effects on the body.
Sedative causing fetal deformities
- pharmacologyStudy of drug actions
- biosynthesisLiving production of molecules
- ribosePentose in nucleotides
- deoxyriboseSugar in genetic helices
Mirror-image molecular variant
- handednessPreferred limb dominance
- tetrahedralHaving four triangular sides
Rapid rotation around axis
- topologicalConcerning continuous spatial properties
- metamaterialStructured material with impossible properties
thalidomide
Sedative causing fetal deformities
- pharmacologyStudy of drug actions
- biosynthesisLiving production of molecules
- ribosePentose in nucleotides
enantiomer
Mirror-image molecular variant
- handednessPreferred limb dominance
- tetrahedralHaving four triangular sides
spin
Rapid rotation around axis
- topologicalConcerning continuous spatial properties
- metamaterialStructured material with impossible properties
chiralachiral
Identical to mirror image
superimposable · symmetric · meso · planar · two-dimensional
chiral resolution, chiropractor, chirality, achiral, chiropodist, chiromancy