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Tartaric acid stereoisomers template

Premium template. Preview and edit it free in MolDraw; downloading and exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro.

L-(+)-(2R,3R)-, D-(−)-(2S,3S)- and meso-(2R,3S)-tartaric acid as Fischer projections and skeletal structures, with the mirror plane of the meso acid and their properties.

What the template shows

The compound Pasteur resolved by hand in 1848: two enantiomers and an optically inactive meso acid
2,3-Dihydroxybutanedioic acid
L-(+)-tartaric acid
natural, dextrorotatory
D-(−)-tartaric acid
mirror plane
meso-tartaric acid
achiral, optically inactive
Natural (grape) tartaric acid is L-(+)-(2R,3R); its enantiomer D-(−)-(2S,3S) has the same melting point and the opposite rotation, [α]D about ±12.
meso-Tartaric acid (2R,3S) has a mirror plane: it is achiral and optically inactive, and its melting point and solubility differ from the enantiomers.
Racemic tartaric acid (DL, "racemic acid") is a 1 : 1 mixture of the enantiomers and crystallises differently (mp about 206 °C).
Pasteur separated the mirror-image crystals of sodium ammonium tartrate with tweezers: the first resolution of a racemate.
Wedge = toward you, hash = away from you · every part of this figure is editable

Drawn with 30 atoms, 25 shapes – every one editable in MolDraw.

Sources

How to use this template

Press Edit in MolDraw. The template opens on the canvas of the free MolDraw editor.
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Frequently asked questions

Is the Tartaric acid stereoisomers template free?

You can preview the Tartaric acid stereoisomers template here and open and edit it in MolDraw for free. Downloading or exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro, together with the other premium templates.

Can I edit the Tartaric acid stereoisomers template?

Yes. It opens as an ordinary MolDraw drawing, so every structure, arrow, label and colour can be changed, and you can add your own content around it.

Is the chemistry checked?

Every structure is checked with RDKit and every curly arrow passes MolDraw’s electron-flow audit. The sources used are listed on this page.

Are the R/S labels in the stereochemistry templates checked?

Yes. Every R/S and E/Z descriptor is computed with RDKit from the drawn structure, so the labels match the wedges and dashes.