An axis about which a set of
ligands is held so that it results in a spatial arrangement which is not superposable on
its mirror image. For example with an allene
abC=C=Ccd
the
chiral axis is defined by the
C=C=C
bonds; and with an
ortho-substituted biphenyl the atoms C-1, C-1', C-4 and C-4' lie on the
chiral axis.
Source:
PAC, 1996, 68, 2193
(Basic terminology of stereochemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1996))
on page 2203
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
