racemic mixture
Equal chiral halves
A racemic mixture contains equal amounts of two mirror-image forms of a molecule—left-handed and right-handed versions that can't be superimposed on each other.
Because these forms rotate light in opposite directions, a racemic mixture has no net optical rotation.
The term matters in chemistry and pharmacology, where mirror-image molecules may have different biological effects: The drug was sold as a racemic mixture until the active form was isolated.
- enantiomerMirror-image molecular variant
- chiralNot matching its reflection
- stereoisomerMolecule differing only spatially
- opticalOf vision or light
- rotationTurning on an axis
mirror · mirror image · crystal · separation · resolution · synthesis · polarized · light · asymmetric · handedness · right handed · dextro · tartaric · Louis Pasteur · Pasteur · tweezers · column · chromatography
- organic chemistrybenzene ring, carbon chain, carbon compounds, hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon
- drug discoverycompounds, SAR, scaffolds, inhibitors, agonists
- molecular formsisomer, enantiomer, stereoisomer, tautomer, conformer