What are the chiral centers in ephedrine?

1 Answer
Ernest Z.
Jun 5, 2015

The chiral centres are #"C"-1# and #"C"-2# of the propanol chain.

The IUPAC name of ephedrine is #(1R,2S)"-2-(methylamino)-1-phenylpropan-1-ol"#.

The structure of ephedrine is

www.lookchem.com

The chiral centres are the carbon atoms with the wedged bonds:

  • #"C"-1#, the carbon bearing the #"OH"# group
  • #"C"-2#, the carbon bearing the #"NHCH"_3# group
Related questions
See all questions in Introduction to Chirality and Chiral Centers
Impact of this question
16598 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License