Abstract

PEREZ-BENITEZ, Aarón. Equivalence between parities of two-substituents swaps and mirror reflections in the determination of tetrahedral atom's chirality: A demonstration with mirrors!. Educ. quím [online]. 2008, vol.19, n.2, pp.146-151. ISSN 0187-893X.

The even number of two-substituents swaps for determining the chirality of a tetrahedral stereogenic center is a direct and very simple method but it requires of a practical or theoretical support. In this paper, an odd and even number of swaps are presented as a product of reflections over one or two mirrors which invert and restore, respectively, its absolute configuration. This fact can be illustrated by using two mirrors arranged in a variable angle (180°≤α≤0°) in which is possible to appreciate homomorphic and enantiomorphic images depending on the reflection's parity.

Keywords : Chirality determination; absolute nomenclature; even number of exchanges; demonstration with mirrors.

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