Many carbon compounds contain a chiral carbon. This leads to the existence of two "mirror-image" forms of the same compound. Chemically they are identical, but they may behave differently in the human body, most tragically in the case of the sedative thalidomide. This talk will examine examples of how the presence of a chiral carbon may affect the properties of a drug.
The difference smells of the two isomers of carvone are also familiar to A-Level students; we will look at how the brain processes the information that comes from the receptors in the nose, and examine a number of cases where enantiomers have different smells, including the true story of the isomers of limonene.
The difference smells of the two isomers of carvone are also familiar to A-Level students; we will look at how the brain processes the information that comes from the receptors in the nose, and examine a number of cases where enantiomers have different smells, including the true story of the isomers of limonene.
