Question

What is chirality?

Answer 1

Hint: Chirality is mainly based on the number of groups attached to a carbon atom. It also depends on the nature of groups whether it is similar or different and is influenced by the ability to superimpose.

Complete step by step solution:
So, let us first understand what is isomerism and what are its types.
Isomerism refers to the phenomenon in which more than one compounds have the same chemical formula but different chemical structures. And those chemical compounds that have identical chemical formulae but they differ in physical or chemical properties and the arrangement of atoms in the molecule are called isomers. Therefore, the compounds that possess isomerism are called “isomers”.
There are two primary types of isomerism, which can be further categorized into different subtypes. These primary types are structural isomerism and stereoisomerism.
So, coming to stereoisomerism, this type of isomerism arises in the compounds having the same chemical formula but different orientation of the atoms that belong to the molecule in the three-dimensional space. The compounds that exhibit stereoisomerism are often referred to as stereoisomers.
Stereoisomerism can be further categorized into two subtypes and that are geometric isomerism and optical isomerism.
So, optical isomerism is a case where the isomers show identical characteristics in terms of molecular weight as well as chemical properties and physical properties but they differ in their effect on the rotation of a plane polarized light. And this optical isomerism occurs due to the presence of chiral carbon in a molecule sometimes.
Let’s see now, what is chirality?
Chirality is defined as an object or a compound which is asymmetric and cannot be superimposed over its mirror image (for example, our both palms) is known as ‘chiral’ or ‘stereocenter’ and this property is known as “chirality”. The chirality is due to the three-dimensional or spatial arrangements of the molecules and a carbon is said to be chiral carbon when it is bonded with four different substituents to it. The asymmetry of the molecule or chirality is mainly responsible for the optical activity in such organic compounds.

Note: Condition for optical isomerism is that the compound should be asymmetric or it should have a chiral centre, it means a carbon atom which is attached to the four different groups or atoms. Optical isomers which rotate plane polarized light towards right side is called dextro (d) while which rotates left is known as laevo (l).