Rules:
It is possibile to use the already available examples or draw your own molecules.
1) to assign the priority, click on "Initialize".
2) click on the chiral carbon in JSMol and click on the "Chiral Carbon" button
3) repeat the the step 2 assigninig the priority to all the first atoms linked to the chiral Carbon
4) orient the molecule to place the group having priorirty 4 far from the observer
5) Assign the chirality R or S to the molecule
Save on Disk
Background
Priority
Chirality
Answer
Save on Disk
Background
Priority
Chirality
Answer
Left (LE) Chiral Carbon
Tartaric Acid
Threose
Glucose
Right (RI) Chiral Carbon
Tartaric Acid
Erithrose
Glucose
Enantiomers
Sequence Rules
Sequence Rules
Assign the priority order to the susbtituents on the asymmetric carbon according to the Cahn-Ingold-Prelog rules.
- For every substituent, look at the first atom linked to the asymmetric carbon: the atom having the highest atomic number has the highest priority
- If it is not possible to define all the priorities in this way, look at the second atom away form the double bond carbon atom, and so on, until a point of difference can be found.
- The atoms having multiple bonds are equivalents to the same number of atoms linked by single bonds.
Orient the Molecule Correctly
Orient the Molecule Correctly
Orient the molecule with the lowest priority group (4) back, away from the observer.
Configuration Assignment
Configuration Assignment
Observe the sequence 1 ---> 2 ---> 3. If, in order to follow the correct order the rotation is:
1) clockwise, the configuration is R
2) counterclockwise, the configuration is S