Well yes, it does have to have chirality, I just meant it doesn’t have to contain any specific elements.
I’m definitely no expert, but isn’t the D/L notation used in all of chemistry? Sometimes it’s written Δ/Λ, but that’s the same thing. Doesn’t it just describe a molecule’s geometry in a different way from R/S?
D/L refers to the entire molecule and how it polarizes light whereas R/S looks at every chiral center and has a priority system to assign. I’ve only really seen D/L in biochemistry, regular chemistry is using R/S notation. D/L is the older less precise notation. R/S is much more specific and isn’t related to polarization of light.
Well yes, it does have to have chirality, I just meant it doesn’t have to contain any specific elements.
I’m definitely no expert, but isn’t the D/L notation used in all of chemistry? Sometimes it’s written Δ/Λ, but that’s the same thing. Doesn’t it just describe a molecule’s geometry in a different way from R/S?
D/L refers to the entire molecule and how it polarizes light whereas R/S looks at every chiral center and has a priority system to assign. I’ve only really seen D/L in biochemistry, regular chemistry is using R/S notation. D/L is the older less precise notation. R/S is much more specific and isn’t related to polarization of light.