Creating 3-Dimensional Molecular Models to Help Students Visualize Stereoselective Reaction Pathways

An approach to the creation of learning materials that aid the visualization of stereoselective reaction pathways is presented. Molecular editing software can be used to create models of various transition-state geometries. These 3-dimensional models can be manipulated, using suitable visualization software, to select relevant viewpoints. By using an overlay annotation tool, line-diagrams can be drawn directly over these 3-dimensional representations. This may help students to make representational translations between the 3-dimensional structures (transition states, etc.) and the 2-dimensional diagrams typically used to depict these objects