Enantioselection

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process in a chemical reaction that favors the creation of one specific mirror-image isomer over its opposite form
2. A selective formation mechanism where one enantiomer is produced more than the other in asymmetric synthesis
3. A reaction outcome in which molecules are produced predominantly as one enantiomer, distinguishing left- from right-handed forms

Etymology: "Enantioselection" is a plain technical compound, built from "enantio-" and "selection." The first part comes from Greek "enantios," meaning "opposite" or "opposed," a root that also gives English "enantiomer," the name for a molecule and its mirror image. Chemists use the prefix to mark things that are non-superimposable mirror images of one another, like a left and right hand. The second part, "selection," is the ordinary English word for choosing one thing over others. Put together, the compound describes a reaction that picks out one of two mirror-image products, favouring one "hand" over the other. The name is a straightforward descriptive coinage, so its interest lies less in a backstory than in how neatly the two parts describe what happens in the flask.