Chemistry A-Level
chirality
What chirality means in Chemistry A-Level, as defined for AQA, OCR.
Definitions of chirality
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Reference: OCR
The feature that produces optical isomers, a chiral centre being typically a carbon atom bonded to four different groups, so that reflection cannot be rotated onto the original.
The property of a molecule whose mirror image cannot be placed on top of the original however it is turned.
Topics that use chirality
- Optical isomerism (A-level only) (AQA A-Level)
- Amino acids, amides and chirality (OCR A-Level)
Related terms
- enantiomers
- Optical isomerism
- racemic mixture
- stereoisomerism
- Acid–base reaction of the COOH group
- Amide and ester formation
- attack from either side
- Bifunctional nature of amino acids
Using chirality in the exam
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