Diastereomer 2026-10-14
Diastereomers are different stereoisomers that are not enantiomers. The meso compound form of tartaric acid is a diastereomer of either member of its enantiomer pair.
Enantiomer Created 2026-10-13 Updated 2026-10-14
Enantiomers are a pair of nonsuperposable mirror-image molecules. The D and L configurations of alanine are an example; glycine has no such pair because its amino acid alpha carbon carries two identical hydrogen chemical atoms. [ref]
Organic Chemistry by John McMurry. §26.1, discussion of glycine and Fischer projections after Table 26.1
The word names a relation between two stereoisomers. Merely finding two different spatial arrangements does not make them enantiomers: arrangements that are different but not mirror partners are diastereomers.
Stereoisomer 2026-10-14
Stereoisomers have the same chemical bond connectivity but different spatial arrangements. A mirror pair of distinct stereoisomers comprises enantiomers; diastereomers have no mirror-pair relation.