Illustration of enantiomers

by Firkin - uploaded on May 9, 2018, 6:33 pm

In chemistry, isomers are different molecules where the relative number of atoms is the same, but the arrangement of those atoms differs so that they are not identical. Enantiomers are a subtle type of isomers where the molecules are non-superimposable mirror images. The graphic illustrates this for a generic amino acid. After reflection in a plane of symmetry and rotating the result 180 degrees it can be seen you end up with a different molecular structure because they cannot be superimposed.