How do you determine diastereomers of a molecule?

1 Answer
Jan 8, 2017

Make models.............

Explanation:

This question has gone unanswered for so long, because it is very difficult to represent diastereoisomerism on the printed page or on the computer screen. This is why professors of organic (and structural) chemistry habitually use models. There is nothing childish about it, and you will find sets of molecular models on the desks of distinguished professors - they will have a fiddle with a model as an idea strikes. In tests and exams, it has always been hard to represent enantiomers and diastereomers unambiguously and straightforwardly. It takes practice.

Anyway, see this older answer.