What is an example of a meso compound?

1 Answer
Feb 21, 2016

The simplest one I can think of is 2,3-butanediol

Explanation:

#C_2# and #C_3#, the methylene carbons are POTENTIALLY chiral. Each chiral centre has 4 different substituents. Nevertheless, while there are #"RR"# and #"SS"# stereoisomers, the #RS# isomer is the mirror image of the #SR# isomer, and nevertheless the #RS# is superposable upon the #SR# isomer. Thus the #RS# isomer is the #"meso"# isomer.

You can accept what I say (because I think it's true), but it would be better if you got a set of molecular models, and actually construct representative models. Most professors of organic chemistry would have a set on models on their table in order to help them visualize structure and interpret reactivity.