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Optical rotation, also known as polarization rotation or circular birefringence, is the rotation of the orientation of the plane of polarization about the optical axis of linearly polarized light as it travels through certain materials. Circular birefringence and circular dichroism are the manifestations of optical activity.
Specific rotation is an intensive property, distinguishing it from the more general phenomenon of optical rotation. As such, the observed rotation ( α ) of a sample of a compound can be used to quantify the enantiomeric excess of that compound, provided that the specific rotation ( [α] ) for the enantiopure compound is known.
The observed rotation of the sample is the weighted sum of the optical rotation of each anomer weighted by the amount of that anomer present. Therefore, one can use a polarimeter to measure the rotation of a sample and then calculate the ratio of the two anomers present from the enantiomeric excess, as long as one knows the rotation of each pure anomer.
Stereoisomerism about double bonds arises because rotation about the double bond is restricted, keeping the substituents fixed relative to each other. [5] If the two substituents on at least one end of a double bond are the same, then there is no stereoisomer and the double bond is not a stereocenter, e.g. propene, CH 3 CH=CH 2 where the two ...
In all materials the rotation varies with wavelength. The variation is caused by two quite different phenomena. The first accounts in most cases for the majority of the variation in rotation and should not strictly be termed rotatory dispersion. It depends on the fact that optical activity is actually circular birefringence.
For example, regardless of the configuration of the starting D-glucose, a solution will gradually move towards being a mixture of approximately 64% β-D-glucopyranoside and 36% of α-D-glucopyranose. As the ratio changes, the optical rotation of the mixture changes; this phenomenon is called mutarotation.
A simple polarimeter to measure this rotation consists of a long tube with flat glass ends, into which the sample is placed. At each end of the tube is a Nicol prism or other polarizer. Light is shone through the tube, and the prism at the other end, attached to an eye-piece, is rotated to arrive at the region of complete brightness or that of ...
Chiral drugs that are equimolar (1:1) mixture of enantiomers are called racemic drugs and these are obviously devoid of optical rotation. The most commonly encountered stereogenic unit, [2] that confers chirality to drug molecules are stereogenic center. Stereogenic center can be due to the presence of tetrahedral tetra coordinate atoms (C,N,P ...