Lacking all symmetry elements (other than the trivial one of a one-fold axis of symmetry),
i.e. belonging to the symmetry
point group. The term has been used loosely (and incorrectly) to describe the absence of a rotation–reflection
axis (alternating axis) in a molecule, i.e. as meaning
chiral, and this usage persists in the traditional terms
asymmetric carbon atom,
asymmetric synthesis,
asymmetric induction, etc.
Source:
PAC, 1996, 68, 2193
(Basic terminology of stereochemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1996))
on page 2199