In chemistry, a stereospecific chemical reaction yields different stereoisomeric reaction products from two stereoisomeric reactants depending on the reaction conditions. Chemistry (in Greek: χημεία) is the science of matter and its interactions with energy and itself (see physics, biology). ... A chemical reaction is a process involving one, two or more substances (called reactants), characterized by a chemical change and yielding one or more product(s) which are different from the reactants. ... Stereoisomerism is the arrangement of atoms in molecules whose connectivity remains the same but their arrangement in space is different in each isomer. ... Stereoisomerism is the arrangement of atoms in molecules whose connectivity remains the same but their arrangement in space is different in each isomer. ... In chemistry, the reactants are the substances that exist at the start of a chemical reaction. ...

example:

The addition of dibromocarbene to cis-2-butene yields cis-2,3-dimethyl-1,1-dibromocyclopropane whereas addition of dibromocarbene to the trans isomer exclusively yields the trans cyclopropane.

Image File history File links stereospecific carbene addtion to a olefin File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Chiral synthesis is built on stereospecific reactions where also the optical activity of a chemical compound is preserved. The two optical isomers of bromochlorofluoromethane Chiral synthesis (also called asymmetric synthesis) is organic synthesis which preserves or introduces a desired chirality. ... When polarized light is passed through a substance containing chiral molecules (or nonchiral molecules arranged asymmetrically), the direction of polarization can be changed. ...

See also

• stereoselective
• dynamic stereochemistry

In chemistry, a stereoselective chemical reaction yields a mixture of stereoisomers from a single reactant where it is observed that the formation of one stereoisomer is favoured over the other. ... In chemistry, dynamic stereochemistry studies the effect of stereochemistry on the reaction rate of a chemical reaction. ...

References

Skell, P.S. Garner, A.Y. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 78, 3409 (1956)

http://pubs.acs.org/emeta/AcsLogin?url=%2Fcgi-bin%2Farchive.cgi%2Fjacsat%2F1956%2F78%2Fi14%2Fpdf%2Fja01595a041.pdf&mode=login (requires subscription, and does not have a DOI yet) A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a permanent identifier given to a World Wide Web file or other Internet document so that if its Internet address changes, users will be redirected to its new address. ...