Enantiomers have identical

Options

A. medicinal (drug) properties
B. smells
C. tastes
D. melting points

Answer

D

Explanation

Enantiomers have identical physical and chemical properties under achiral conditions. In other words, enantiomers show different properties (physical as well as chemical) only in a chiral medium. Enantiomers differ in direction of the rotation of the plane polarized light (a physical property) beacuse polarized light provides a chiral medium. Enantiomers also differ in solubility in an optically active solvent and in adsorption on an optically active surface. For enantiomers to react at different rates, the necessary chiral medium can be provided in a number of ways: by an optically acitve regent, by a chiral solvent or the chiral surface of a catalyst and by irradiation with circularly polarized light (for light-catalyed reacrions). For simplicity, we often use the term ''optically active reacgent'' or ''chiral reagent'' in specking of reaction under an of these chiral conditions. On the other hand, we use the term ''optically inactive reagent'' or ''achirakl reagen'' or even ''ordinary conditions'' in specking of reaction in the absence of a chiral medium.