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racemic

American  
[rey-see-mik, -sem-ik, ruh-] / reɪˈsi mɪk, -ˈsɛm ɪk, rə- /

adjective

Chemistry.
  1. noting or pertaining to any of various organic compounds in which racemism occurs.


racemic British  
/ rəˈsiːmɪzəm, rəˈsiːmɪk, -ˈsɛm-, ˈræsɪˌmɪzəm /

adjective

  1. chem of, concerned with, or being a mixture of equal amounts of enantiomers and consequently having no optical activity

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

racemic Scientific  
/ rə-sēmĭk /
  1. Relating to a chemical compound that contains equal quantities of the dextrorotatory and levorotatory forms of the compound and therefore does not rotate the plane of incident polarized light.

  2. Relating to or consisting of racemes.


Other Word Forms

  • racemism noun

Etymology

Origin of racemic

1830–40; < French racémique < Latin racēm ( us ) raceme + French -ique -ic

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The reaction had been published earlier by another researcher, but had never been investigated for its ability to produce homochiral peptides from racemic or near-racemic mixes of amino acids.

From Science Daily

So how does T induce the conversion of a racemic mixture of allenes into a single enantiomer, a process known as deracemization?

From Nature

The radical is then converted in situ to a racemic mixture of amines.

From Nature

Here we report asymmetric catalysis of an SN1-type reaction mechanism that results in the enantioselective construction of quaternary stereocentres from racemic precursors.

From Nature

The Dom D'Agostino/Patrick Arnold diester is made of 2 molecules of acetoacetate bound to a central racemic butanediol.

From New York Times