If I were to draw a hand, and
let me just draw a hand really
fast, so I'll draw
a left hand.
It looks something like that.
That is a left hand.
Now, if I were to take its
mirror image, let's say that
this is a mirror right there,
and I want to take its mirror
image, and I'll draw the
mirror image in green.
So its mirror image would look
something like this.
Not exact, but you
get the idea.
The mirror image of a left
hand looks a lot
like a right hand.
Now, no matter how I try to
shift or rotate this hand like
this, I might try to maybe
rotate it 180 degrees, so that
the thumb is on the other side
like this image right here.
But no matter what I do, I will
never be able to make
this thing look like
that thing.
I can shift it and rotate it,
it'll just never happen.
I will never be able to
superimpose the blue hand on
top of this green hand.
When I say superimpose,
literally put it exactly on
top of the green hand.
So whenever something is not
superimposable on its mirror
image-- let me write this down--
we call it chiral.
So this hand drawing
right here is an
example of a chiral object.
Or I guess the hand is an
example of a chiral object.
This is not superimposable
on its mirror image.
And it makes sense that it's
called chiral because the word
chiral comes from the
Greek word for hand.
And this definition of
not being able to be
superimposable on its mirror
image, this applies whether
you're dealing with chemistry,
or mathematics, or I guess,
just hands in general.
So if we extend this definition
to chemistry,
because that's what we're
talking about, there's two
concepts here.
There are chiral molecules,
and then there are chiral
centers or chiral-- well, I call
them chiral atoms. They
tend to be carbon atoms, so
sometimes they call them
chiral carbons.
So you have these
chiral atoms.
Now, chiral molecules are
literally molecules that are
not superimposable on
their mirror image.
I'm not going to write
the whole thing.
You know, not superimposable--
I'll just
write the whole thing.
Not superimposable
on mirror image.
Now, for chiral atoms, this is
essentially true, but when you
look for chiral atoms within a
molecule, the best way to spot
them is to recognize that these
generally, or maybe I
should say usually, are carbons,
especially when we're
dealing in organic chemistry,
but they could be phosphoruses
or sulfurs, but usually are
carbons bonded to four
different groups.
And I want to emphasize
groups, not just four
different atoms. And to kind of
highlight a molecule that
contains a chiral atom or chiral
carbon, we can just
think of one.
So let's say that I have a
carbon right here, and I'm
going to set this up so this
is actually a chiral atom,
that the carbon specific is a
chiral atom, but it's partly a
chiral molecule.
And then we'll see examples
that one or both
of these are true.
Let's say it's bonded
to a methyl group.
From that bond, it kind of
pops out of the page.
Let's say there's a
bromine over here.
Let's say behind it, there is a
hydrogen, and then above it,
we have a fluorine.
Now if I were to take the mirror
image of this thing
right here, we have your carbon
in the center-- I want
to do it in that same blue.
You have the carbon in the
center and then you have the
fluorine above the carbon.
You have your bromine now
going in this direction.
You have this methyl group.
It's still popping out of the
page, but it's now going to
the right instead of to
the left, So CH3.
And then you have the hydrogen
still in the back.
These are mirror images, if you
view this as kind of the
mirror and you can see on both
sides of the mirror.
Now, why is this chiral?
Well, it's a little bit of a
visualization challenge, but
no matter how you try to rotate
this thing right here,
you will never make it exactly
like this thing.
You might try to rotate it
around like that and try to
get the methyl group over here,
to get it over there.
So let's try to do that.
If we try to get the methyl
group over there, what's going
to happen to the other groups?
Well, then the hydrogen group is
going-- or the hydrogen, I
should say.
The hydrogen atom is going to
move there and the bromine is
going to move there.
So this would be superimposable
if this was a
hydrogen and this was a
bromine, but it's not.
You can imagine, the hydrogen
and bromine are switched.
And you could flip it and do
whatever else you want or try
to rotate it in any direction,
but you're not going to be
able to superimpose them.
So this molecule right here is
a chiral molecule, and this
carbon is a chiral center, so
this carbon is a chiral
carbon, sometimes called
an asymmetric
carbon or a chiral center.
Sometimes you'll hear
something called a
stereocenter.
A stereocenter is a more general
term for any point in
a molecule that is asymmetric
relative to the different
groups that it is joined to.
But all of these, especially
when you're in kind of in
introductory organic chemistry
class, tends to be a carbon
bonded to four different
groups.
And I want to to stress that
it's not four different atoms.
You could have had a methyl
group here and a propyl group
here, and the carbon would still
be bonded directly to a
carbon in either case, but that
would still be a chiral
carbon, and this would still
actually be a chiral molecule.
In the next video, we'll
do a bunch of examples.
We'll look at molecules, try
to identify the chiral
carbons, and then try to
figure out whether the
molecule itself is--