Below are D and L-alanine in their Zwitterionic forms. They are related to one another as enantiomers (i.e. non-superimposable mirror images). Click the "Synchronize" checkbox to see the D and L mirror images rotate. Can you determine which is R and which is S? Which one is common in organisms?
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M I R R O R |
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| D-Alanine | L-Alanine |
Enantiomers have the exact same physical and chemical properties. For example L-alanine and D-alanine both have the same solubility in water, melting point, heat of formation, pKa etc. You could not separate them with standard chromatography techniques. Enantiomers only behave different in a chiral environment (i.e pocket of an enzyme, bound to a chiral catalyst, or on surface of chiral chromatography material).