Stereoisomeeriä

Stereoisomeeriä are a type of isomer that have the same molecular formula and the same connectivity of atoms, but differ in the three-dimensional arrangement of their atoms in space. This difference in spatial arrangement leads to different physical and chemical properties. The term "stereoisomeriä" encompasses several subcategories.

Chiral stereoisomers are a significant group. A molecule and its mirror image are called enantiomers if they are not superimposable. This non-superimposability is akin to a left hand and a right hand. Enantiomers have identical physical properties like melting point and boiling point, but they interact differently with plane-polarized light, a phenomenon known as optical activity. They also exhibit different biological activities.

Diastereomers are stereoisomers that are not enantiomers. This means they are stereoisomers but not mirror images of each other, or they are mirror images but are superimposable (which would make them identical). Diastereomers typically have different physical and chemical properties, unlike enantiomers. Geometric isomers, such as cis-trans isomers, are a specific type of diastereomer commonly found in molecules with restricted rotation, like alkenes. The spatial arrangement around a double bond determines whether the substituents are on the same side (cis) or opposite sides (trans) of the double bond.