Chem 334 - Fall 1999
Organic Chemistry I
Dr. Carl C. Wamser

Chapter 4 Skills

Knowledge - Level 1

know the terminology:

• chiral / achiral
• sterogenic center / stereocenter /chiral center
  (all mean the same thing)
• enantiomers
• diastereomers
• meso compounds
• racemic mixture
• specific rotation
• dextrorotatory (+) / levorotatory (-)

know the sequence rules for assigning R or S configuration

Concepts - Level 2

distinguish the various types of isomers and stereoisomers

distinguish between conformation and configuration

understand the concept of chirality

understand the property of optical rotation

recognize the biological significance of chirality for molecular recognition and catalysis

Applications - Level 3

identify chiral objects and chiral molecules

identify stereogenic centers

identify the number of possible stereoisomers for a given structure

identify stereocenters as R or S

use accurate 3-dimensional drawings to depict chiral molecules

use Fischer projections to depict chiral molecules