| Abstract: | The theory of the arrangement of atoms in space was initiated in 1874 by van't Hoff and Le Bel. The starting points were mainly in the fields of structural chemistry and optical activity. After early difficulties, stereochemistry gained acceptance in the last quarter of the 19th century and led to many interesting investigations and discoveries: the investigation of geometrical isomerism, the Baeyer strain theory, the stereochemistry of nitrogen, the determination of the configurations of carbohydrates, Walden inversion, and the beginning of inorganic stereochemistry all fall in this period. Theoretical verification of the principal stereochemical hypotheses and the exact determination of the steric arrangement of atoms by physical methods were achieved only in the 20th century. |
