Meaning & use
Racemization
Last updated
A chemical process in which an optically active compound is converted into a racemic form containing equal amounts of both mirror-image molecules, losing its net optical activity.
See it in a sentence
Racemization of amino acids over time is used by scientists to estimate the age of fossils.
Heating the compound accelerated its racemization in the laboratory.
A note on using this word
This is a key concept in stereochemistry; racemization dating relies on the predictable rate at which certain amino acids racemize after an organism dies.
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