Quote:
Originally posted by adrianxw
Sorry, I know this is going back a bit in the thread, but Thalidomide exists in 2 forms. They have the same formula but have what is called a chiral centre, the two forms are, simplistically, left handed and right handed. Such forms are called enantiomorphs. One enantiomorph is used now in a variety of cases as discussed, it was the other that was responsible for the disaster. The enantiomorphic selection process has improved dramatically since the 50-60's as has the understanding of such matters.
Actually, thalidomide still cannot be used on pregnant females, because as it moves through the bloodstream, it racemizes (it converts to equal amounts of each form). So, in the blood, even if you injected people with only the R (+) form of the enantiomer, which is the medicinal form, it would equilibrate to 50% each of the R (+) and S (-) forms in the blood; when a chemical equilibrates to equal amounts of both forms, the mixture is called a racemate.