Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🔄 Middle or intermediate 🧪 Chemically symmetric
meso-

meso-

9.9
Used at the start of a chemical name for a molecule that is the same as its mirror image
  • other
  • Specialized
: meso-
  • The compound is classified as meso- due to its internal plane of symmetry, making it achiral.

Examples

  • The term meso- is used to describe molecules like meso tartaric acid that display symmetry.

  • If you here to go from RR tartaric acid to meso tartaric acid, you change just one such hydrogen.

  • In organic chemistry, meso- compounds have stereocenters without optical activity.

Surface Forms

meso- main

Etymology

The chemical prefix meso- also comes from the Greek mesos, meaning 'middle'. A helpful way to remember the chemical use is to imagine a molecule with a mirror in the middle: the two halves match, so it looks the same as its mirror image and has no left or right form, which is why chemists call it meso-.