Determination of the actual atomic arrangement in tartaric acid
in 1949 motivated a change in stereochemical nomenclature from
Fischer's 1891 genealogical convention (D, L) to the CIP scheme
(R, S) based on conventional group priorities. Configurational
isomers can be interconverted by racemization and epimerization.
Pure enantiomers can be separated from racemic mixtures by
resolution schemes based on selective crystallization of
conglome...more Professor Sylvia Ceyer discusses the Valence
Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) theory and its use with
predicting the shapes of individual molecules, based upon their
extent of electron-pair electrostatic repulsion. The RSEPR Rules
are defined and the shapes based on VSEPR theory rationalized
using atomic size and bond length. Professor Sylvia Ceyer
discusses hybridization and chemical bonding. Using methyl
nitrate as an example, Professor Ceyer describes how to find the
lowest energy Lewis structure and explains bond symmetry, hybrid
orbitals, and atomic orbital