What does it mean for a compound to be a meso isomer?
1 Answer
Nov 30, 2015
A meso compound is symmetrical but has an even number of chiral centers. It has a plane of symmetry down the middle. It has a superposable mirror image, i.e. the mirror image looks identical.
You can determine that the left chiral center is S and the right chiral center is R.
The reason why it is optically inactive is that its two chiral centers rotate plane-polarized light by the same degrees in opposite directions (CW vs. CCW).
