Introduction

It is easy to mistake between diasteromers and enantiomers. For example, we have four steroisomers of 3-bromo-2-butanol. The four possible combination are SS, RR, SR and RS (Figure 5.6.1). One of the molecule is the enantiomer of its mirror image molecule and diasteromer of each of the other two molecule (SS is enantiomer of RR and diasteromer of RS and SR). SS’s mirror image is RR and they are not superimposable, so they are enantiomers. RS and SR are not mirror image of SS and are not superimposable to each other, so they are diasteromers.

Figure 1

Diastereomers vs. Enantiomers

Tartaric acid, C₄H₆O_6, is an organic compound that can be found in grape, bananas, and in wine. The structures of tartaric acid itself is really interesting. Naturally, it is in the form of (R,R) stereocenters. Artificially, it can be in the meso form (R,S), which is achiral. R,R tartaric acid is enantiomer to is mirror image which is S,S tartaric acid and diasteromers to meso-tartaric acid (Figure 5.6.2).

(R,R) and (S,S) tartaric acid have similar physical properties and reactivity. However, meso-tartaric acid have different physical properties and reactivity. For example, melting point of (R,R) & (S,S) tartaric is about 170 degree Celsius, and melting point of meso-tartaric acid is about 145 degree Celsius.

Figure 2

We turn our attention next to molecules which have more than one stereocenter. We will start with a common four-carbon sugar called D-erythrose.

As you can see, D-erythrose is a chiral molecule: C₂ and C₃ are stereocenters, both of which have the R configuration. In addition, you should make a model to convince yourself that it is impossible to find a plane of symmetry through the molecule, regardless of the conformation.  Does D-erythrose have an enantiomer?  Of course it does – if it is a chiral molecule, it must.  The enantiomer of erythrose is its mirror image, and is named L-erythrose (once again, you should use models to convince yourself that these mirror images of erythrose are not superimposable).

Notice that both chiral centers in L-erythrose both have the S configuration.

What happens if we draw a stereoisomer of erythrose in which the configuration is S at C₂ and R at C₃?  This stereoisomer, which is a sugar called D-threose, is not a mirror image of erythrose. D-threose is a diastereomer of both D-erythrose and L-erythrose.

The definition of diastereomers is simple: if two molecules are stereoisomers (same molecular formula, same connectivity, different arrangement of atoms in space) but are not enantiomers, then they are diastereomers by default. In practical terms, this means that at least one – but not all – of the chiral centers are opposite in a pair of diastereomers.  By definition, two molecules that are diastereomers are not mirror images of each other.

L-threose, the enantiomer of D-threose, has the R configuration at C₂ and the S configuration at C₃.  L-threose is a diastereomer of both erythrose enantiomers.

In general, a structure with n stereocenters will have 2ⁿ different stereoisomers. (We are not considering, for the time being, the stereochemistry of double bonds – that will come later).   For example, let’s consider the glucose molecule in its open-chain form (recall that many sugar molecules can exist in either an open-chain or a cyclic form). There are two enantiomers of glucose, called D-glucose and L-glucose.  The D-enantiomer is the common sugar that our bodies use for energy. It has n = 4 stereocenters, so therefore there are 2ⁿ = 2⁴ = 16 possible stereoisomers (including D-glucose itself).

In L-glucose, all of the stereocenters are inverted relative to D-glucose.  That  leaves 14 diastereomers of D-glucose: these are molecules in which at least one, but not all, of the stereocenters are inverted relative to D-glucose.  One of these 14 diastereomers, a sugar called D-galactose, is shown above:  in D-galactose, one of four stereocenters is inverted relative to D-glucose. Diastereomers which differ in only one stereocenter (out of two or more)  are called epimers. D-glucose and D-galactose can therefore be refered to as epimers as well as diastereomers.

In total, there are 2¹⁰ = 1024 stereoisomers in the erythronolide B family: 1022 of these are diastereomers of the structure above, one is the enantiomer of the structure above, and the last  is the structure above.

We know that enantiomers have identical physical properties and equal but opposite degrees of specific rotation.  Diastereomers, in theory at least, have different physical properties – we stipulate ‘in theory’ because sometimes the physical properties of two or more diastereomers are so similar that it is very difficult to separate them.  In addition, the specific rotations of diastereomers are unrelated – they could be the same sign or opposite signs, and similar in magnitude or very dissimilar.

Contributors

• Organic Chemistry With a Biological Emphasis by Tim Soderberg (University of Minnesota, Morris)
• Dr. Dietmar Kennepohl FCIC (Professor of Chemistry, Athabasca University)