In 1874, J. Van’t Hoff and C. Le Bel independently proposed that if all substituents around a central carbon are different, the resulting molecule is non-superimposable with its mirror image, leading to the concept of an asymmetric carbon or stereocentre and asymmetric molecules.
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J. Van’t Hoff and C. Le Bel independently contributed to the understanding of molecular asymmetry by proposing the concept of tetrahedral carbon and the spatial arrangement of atoms in molecules. In 1874, Van’t Hoff and Le Bel independently proposed that carbon atoms can form tetrahedral arrangements, and this tetrahedral carbon is responsible for the observed isomerism in organic compounds. Their work laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stereochemistry, elucidating the three-dimensional nature of molecules. This groundbreaking idea explained optical isomerism and earned Van’t Hoff the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901 for his contributions to the field.