this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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Some molecules have a rotation that is centered on a chiral carbon atom and is named by the way the other atoms of the molecule rotate. There are some rules to it, but L is levorotatory and means it rotates to the left or counter-clockwise. D is dextrorotatory and spins to the right, or clockwise.
Edit: spelling errors lol
These terms can describe any molecule, btw, doesn't have to contain carbon
Not any molecule, it’s gotta be able to have stereoisomers in the first place. There’s no R or S water for example. D/L notation is for biology.
Well yes, it does have to have chirality, I just meant it doesn't have to contain any specific elements.
I'm definitely no expert, but isn't the D/L notation used in all of chemistry? Sometimes it's written Δ/Λ, but that's the same thing. Doesn't it just describe a molecule's geometry in a different way from R/S?
D/L refers to the entire molecule and how it polarizes light whereas R/S looks at every chiral center and has a priority system to assign. I’ve only really seen D/L in biochemistry, regular chemistry is using R/S notation. D/L is the older less precise notation. R/S is much more specific and isn’t related to polarization of light.
Fair! I've only taken organic chemistry so far, so that's what I remembered