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Spectroscopy

By James Ashenhurst

Homotopic, Enantiotopic, Diastereotopic

Last updated: September 16th, 2024 |

Homotopic, Enantiotopic, and Diastereotopic Groups: What Does It Mean?

When you have two hydrogens attached to a single carbon, they can have three different types of relationships. We call them “homotopic”, “enantiotopic”, and “diastereotopic”.

To determine these relationships we imagine replacing each hydrogen in turn with a different atom or group, which we can call D.

  • When replacement of each H with D results in the same product, we call these hydrogens homotopic.
  • When replacement of each H with D results in enantiomers, we call these hydrogens enantiotopic.
  • When replacement of each H with D results in diastereomers, we call these hydrogens diastereotopic.

Summary of homotopic enantiotopic diastereotopic hydrogens

Table of Contents

  1. When Is “Homotopic, Enantiotopic, Diastereotopic” Important?
  2. Homotopic Atoms (or Groups)
  3. Enantiotopic Atoms
  4. Diastereotopic Atoms
  5. When Does It Matter?
  6. Notes

1. When Is “Homotopic, Enantiotopic, Diastereotopic” Important?

  •  Certain reactions directly replace hydrogens with other atoms. For example, free radical chlorination replaces C-H bonds with C-Cl bonds. So understanding these principles help in understanding what potential types of products you could obtain from these reactions.
  • In Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) these relationships determine whether or not these hydrogens are in the same “chemical environment”. In other words, whether or not they have the same or different signals.

2.  Homotopic Atoms

Take a molecule like ethane. Let’s label (with color) two different hydrogens, blue and red. Next, let’s replace each of these hydrogens in turn with a different atom. In this example it could be deuterium (D) but really this can be done with any atom or group (except hydrogen of course).

Replace the red H and the blue H in turn with D and compare the molecules that are formed. Ask: how are these molecules related?

In this case they are both deuterioethane. Since the two molecules are the same, the two hydrogens are said to be “homotopic”. Replacement of either gives rise to the same product.

what is the meaning of homotopic example ethane replace any hydrogen with D and get the exact same molecule homo equals the same

3. Enantiotopic Atoms

Let’s look at butane next; specifically, the second carbon of butane.  Replacement of the red  H with D leads to (R)-2-deuteriobutane, while replacement of the blue H with D leads to (S)-2-deuteriobutane. These hydrogens are therefore not homotopic. Since enantiomers are obtained here, these two protons are therefore enantiotopic.

enantiotopic hydrogen what does it mean replace either hydrogen with d and compare molecules they are enantiomers this means enantiotopic

Note that the CH3 protons of butane are homotopic; it’s only the C-2 (and C-3) hydrogens of butane that are enantiotopic.

4. Diastereotopic Atoms

It’s also possible to have diastereotopic protons. Look at the alkene below. Replacement of the red H with D leads to the E-alkene, while replacement of the blue H with D leads to the Z-alkene. What’s the relationship between these two compounds? They’re diastereomers – stereoisomers, but not mirror images. So the two protons are said to be diastereotopic. 

example of diastereotopic hydrogens in alkene replace each in turn with d and obtain diastereomers different nmr spectra

There’s another potential situation which can lead to diastereotopic protons. Look at the molecule below – (R)-butan-2-ol. Replacement of the red H leads to the (R, R) product. Replacement of the blue H leads to the (R, S) product. Therefore, these two products are diastereomers, and the two protons are diastereotopic.

second example of diastereotopic hydrogens is hydrogens on carbon containing stereocenter replace h with d and obtain diastereomers different nmr spectra
5. When does it matter?

Two situations:

  1. In free radical chorination – say, of butane – on the second carbon (C-2), substitution of C-H with Cl will lead to a mixture of stereocenters. It’s important to recognize when this can happen.
  2.  (Most common) – In NMR spectroscopy:
  • homotopic protons have the exact same chemical shift
  • enantiotopic protons have the same chemical shift in the vast majority of situations. However, if they are placed in a chiral environment (e.g. a chiral solvent) they will have different chemical shifts.
  • diastereotopic protons have different chemical shifts in all situations

Notes

Related Articles

00 General Chemistry Review
01 Bonding, Structure, and Resonance
02 Acid Base Reactions
03 Alkanes and Nomenclature
04 Conformations and Cycloalkanes
05 A Primer On Organic Reactions
06 Free Radical Reactions
07 Stereochemistry and Chirality
08 Substitution Reactions
09 Elimination Reactions
10 Rearrangements
11 SN1/SN2/E1/E2 Decision
12 Alkene Reactions
13 Alkyne Reactions
14 Alcohols, Epoxides and Ethers
15 Organometallics
16 Spectroscopy
17 Dienes and MO Theory
18 Aromaticity
19 Reactions of Aromatic Molecules
20 Aldehydes and Ketones
21 Carboxylic Acid Derivatives
22 Enols and Enolates
23 Amines
24 Carbohydrates
25 Fun and Miscellaneous
26 Organic Chemistry Tips and Tricks
27 Case Studies of Successful O-Chem Students

Comments

Comment section

38 thoughts on “Homotopic, Enantiotopic, Diastereotopic”

  4. It’s really helpful, clearly described..I want some examples on diastereotpic faces of alkenes with symmetry and addition criterion

    Reply

  6. Very clear descriptions but your Enantiotopic figure is described as butane but is still ethane so the figure itself is Homotopic. Also your descriptions often are of a chlorine replacement but the figures are still of deuterium (an earlier version?).

    I bought your spectroscopy pdf but haven’t had a chance to read it yet…. but your site has been so helpful figured I try it!

    Reply

  9. Nice explanations, as a chemistry student am happy this topic was difficult but here I find it easy and educative

    Reply

  11. Do the protons have to be adjacent to a chiral center in order for them to be diastereotopic (like in example 2)? Or can they be further down the chain or anywhere else in the molecule.

    Reply

  13. Thank you so much for all of your articles. They’re so clear and well-written, and as a science student at mcgill I can confirm that you’re a lot easier to understand than many of my org chem profs! We’re learning IR/NMR/MS identification stuff right now and I’m up to my neck in confusing slides and this article was the best thing that’s ever happened to me!

    Reply
  14. Pingback: J-Coupling & Tin Can Phones - Nanalysis

  18. Hi, thanks for the examples on homotopic, enantiotopic and diastereotopic but i don’t get the difference between the enantiotopic and second example of diastereotopic. I will really appreciate it if you could explain it to me. Thanks. :)

    Reply

    1. We look at the hydrogens in pairs. An enantiotopic pair of protons will produce different chiral configurations on substitution. Looking at the example above, substitution of one of the protons creates an R center; substitution of the other creates an S center. We either have an R center or an S center. These are both opposite chiral configurations of each other, which means enantiomers.

      For the diasteretopic set, let’s start with the first example of a double bond. Chirality doesn’t apply to a single double bond, so going like above, upon substitution of either hydrogen we end up with two stereoisomers–the Z and E configurations. To confirm they are stereoisomers, try flipping either isomer around, and you will see you can’t get them to match. Simply establishing that stereoisomers are created on a substitution of a single double bond means we have diastereotopic protons.

      Moving on to the second example of diastereotopic protons: we are examining the proton set next to the chirality center. Diastereomers are two molecules that have the same formula, but their chirality centers have different configurations. If their configurations are completely opposite, we have enantiomers. In the case above, we end up with either an R,S or R,R product of chlorobutanol. These are two molecules with the same formula, but their chirality configurations are different; hence, they are diastereomers. If they were enantiomers, they would need to be complete opposites, eg. an R,S product and an S,R product.

      So to check for diastereotopic protons, the first thing you do is substitute each proton in turn and compare the resulting products. Remember your goal specifically is to identify a product’s chirality. If you have diastereomers (different chiral configurations), they are diastereotopic; if enantiomers (opposite chiral configurations), enantiotopic; if the same molecule (no change in chiral configuration), homotopic.

      Reply

  19. Hi! This definitely helped- I have a quiz on this stuff today, so this will hopefully help me out! One suggestion- maybe you could include heterotopic ones as well? I get a little confused with those, and we’re learning about those in tandem with the ones you have listed. Great Website!

    Reply

  22. Finally, we dip our toes into NMR!

    I actually don’t recommend my students use chlorine in their substitution exercise… The molecule might already have a chlorine in it – confusing the situation. Do the substitution exercise on C2 of 1-chloroethane… then what happens?

    I use some ridiculous transition metal (for personal reasons, my favorite choice is element 76)… or I have them do the substitution exercise with something nonsensical like a smiley face. We can still name the results and compare their relationship… It’s (R)-2-smileyfacebutane and (S)-2-smileyfacebutane.

    :)

    Reply

      1. But the letter Q is chiral… (was it you who tweeted the achiral letters a while ago?)

        And as James has shown, cats can be chiral, too…

        /troll

        Reply

    2. dipping a little end of my pinky toe into NMR. Still reluctant to talk about it yet.
      thanks for the suggestion re: replacing Cl.

      Reply

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