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Stereochemistry

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 227 Accesses

Definition

Stereochemistry is devoted to studies of the relative spatial arrangement of atoms within molecules. Also known as 3D chemistry, it spans the entire range of organic, inorganic, biological, physical, and supramolecular chemistries. Stereochemistry focuses on stereoisomers, molecules that have the same chemical formula and in which the atoms have the same connectivity but different spatial distributions. If two stereoisomers are mirror images of each other, they are called enantiomers. If they are non-mirror images of each other, they are diastereoisomers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular and Biomolecular Engineering, Universté Libre de Bruxelles C.P. 165/64, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Gilles Bruylants

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  1. Gilles Bruylants
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Correspondence to Gilles Bruylants .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bruylants, G. (2014). Stereochemistry. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1908-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1908-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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