Racemic mixture
Racemic Mixture
A Racemic Mixture (pronounced: /rəˈsiːmɪk ˈmɪkstʃər/) is a term used in Chemistry and Pharmacology to describe a mixture that contains equal amounts of left- and right-handed enantiomers of a Chiral molecule. The term "racemic" is derived from the Latin word "racemus" which means "a cluster of grapes".
Etymology
The term "racemic" was first used by Louis Pasteur in the 19th century. He used the term to describe a mixture of two enantiomers, which he had separated from a racemic mixture of tartaric acid. The term "racemus" in Latin means a bunch of grapes, and Pasteur used this term because the crystals of the two enantiomers looked like two bunches of grapes.
Related Terms
- Chiral molecule: A molecule that has a non-superimposable mirror image. The presence of one or more chiral centers in a molecule will make it chiral.
- Enantiomer: One of two stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other.
- Stereoisomer: One of a set of the isomers of a compound that have different arrangements of atoms in space.
- Optical isomer: A type of stereoisomerism in which the different isomers rotate plane-polarized light in different directions.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Racemic mixture
- Wikipedia's article - Racemic mixture
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