chirality

chirality.

See handedness.

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Chirality

The left- or right-sidedness of virtually the entirety of the physical universe, from elementary particles—e.g., electrons and molecules—to highly complex organisms
Organic chemistry The 3-D conformation of a molecule, which has an either left-handed (levo- or l-) orientation, as do most molecules in functioning biologic systems, or right-handed (dextro- or d-) orientation

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chirality [ki-ral´ĭ-te]

the property of handedness, of not being superimposable on a mirror image; the handedness of an asymmetric molecule, as specified by its optical rotation or absolute configuration.

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chirality (kī·ralˑ·i·tē),

n the “handedness” property of organic compounds (containing an asymmetrical carbon) that gives rise to structures that are mirror images and that cannot be superimposed on each other; the two isomers are called optical isomers, which refers to their ability to rotate plane-polarized light.