English 4, post 4 "career related"

 hi, in this free topic I'm going to talk about "thalidomide". this was a drug marketed between the years 1958 and 1963 as a sedative and soothing for nausea during first three months of pregnancy. Thalidomide is a chiral molecule, that is, it has a stereoisomer, a molecule equal to it with the same atoms and molar mass but these atoms are distributed differently in space and the atoms in the stereogenic center rotate in opposite directions

Now they are known and differentiated when it rotates clockwise it is written R and the name of the molecule, when it rotates against it is assigned the S

It turns out that its stereoisomer caused adverse effects in the baby. It was withdrawn from the market when attributed the cause of the phocomelia (malformation of the upper limbs to be detected by the absence of the main part of the arm and hands fit fin).

Nowadays, stereochemistry is being studied a lot, the arrangement of the atoms in a molecule since most organic compounds have stereoisomers, even the most common ones such as ibuprofen that we consume frequently.

It is necessary to know the stereoisomers of each organic molecule because if there is an error in the manufacture of a drug and the stereoisomer is manufactured, it could cause another effect.

thanks for reading