Talk:Lycopene (data page)

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72 isomers?[edit]

Is this 72 known(?) isomers, or the result of a calculation - with 11 olefins possibly being E/Z surely that's 2¹¹ isomers, sterics nonwithstanding? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.130.133.64 (talk) 18:07, 13 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The result is from a calculation (published in a research paper, not my own and I didn't question how they arrived at that number). Don't forget, however, that there's symmetry involved, so half the stereocenters are equivalent. 2⁶ = 64, and I'm not sure how they arrive at 72, but I think that symmetry simplifies the total number of isomers. Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 22:30, 13 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

UPDATE: I found a source to explain why there are 72 (cited in main article). The reason is due to steric hinderance, the 72 are the only ones sterically possible. Jeff Dahl (Talk • contribs) 16:34, 26 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]