Alanine, chiral forms properties

Chirality is a fundamental symmetry property of three-dimensional objects. An object is said to be chind if it cannot be superimposed upon its mirror image. In a chemical context, chirality is applied to the three-dimensional structure of molecules. Many compounds may be obtained in two different forms in which the molecular structures are constitutionally identical but differ in the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms such that they are related as mirror images. In such a case the two possible forms are called enantiomers and are said to be enantiomeric with each other. To take a simple example, the amino acid alanine can be obtained in two forms (1) and (2) which are clearly related as mirror images. 

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