the.com/tautomerism
Same molecule, identity crisis — a proton hops and suddenly it's a different compound.
means A form of isomerism where two molecular structures interconvert rapidly by the simple shuffling of a hydrogen atom (and a double bond) from one position to another.
from Built from Greek roots: 'tauto-' meaning 'the same,' and 'meros' meaning 'part' or 'share' — the same lumber used to build 'isomer' ('equal parts'). Chemists coined 'tautomer' in the late 19th century to name compounds that seemed to be two different substances yet were really one, caught mid-shuffle. The word quietly insists on an identity even as the proton jumps — 'same' stitched right into the name of a thing that won't sit still.
- the swap
- one proton moves, double bonds shuffle to match
- keto vs enol
- DNA bases pick the wrong one, you get mutations
- speed
- interconversion often happens faster than you can isolate either form
- not isomers
- same atoms, just rearranged in a blink, not separate compounds