Question

1. The quantitative differences in biological activity between the two enantiomers of a compourd are sometimes quite large. For example,the D isomerof the drug isoproterenol, used to treat mild asthma, is 50 to 80 times more effective as bronchodilator than the L isomer. Identify the chiral center in Isoproterenol. Why do the 2 enantiomers have such radically different bioactivity?

Answer 1

Answer:

The center C has 4 C atoms attached to it, but it is still a chiral center because each of the C atoms it is bonded to is itself bonded to different atoms. In general a molecule with a chiral center will have non-superimposable mirror image.

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