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Optical activity is reciprocal, i.e. it is the same for opposite directions of wave propagation through an optically active medium, for example, clockwise polarization rotation from the point of view of an observer. In case of optically active isotropic media, the rotation is the same for any direction of wave propagation.
The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics defines specific rotation as: For an optically active substance, defined by [α] θ λ = α/γl, where α is the angle through which plane polarized light is rotated by a solution of mass concentration γ and path length l. Here θ is the Celsius temperature and λ the wavelength of the light at which ...
A meso compound or meso isomer is an optically inactive isomer in a set of stereoisomers, at least two of which are optically active. [1] [2] This means that despite containing two or more stereocenters, the molecule is not chiral. A meso compound is superposable on its mirror image (not to be confused with superimposable, as any two objects ...
Different enantiomers or diastereomers of a compound were formerly called optical isomers due to their different optical properties. [29] At one time, chirality was thought to be restricted to organic chemistry, but this misconception was overthrown by the resolution of a purely inorganic compound, a cobalt complex called hexol , by Alfred ...
These properties account for the fact that optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism are widely used in organic and inorganic chemistry and in biochemistry. In the absence of magnetic fields, only chiral substances exhibit optical rotatory dispersion and circular dichroism.
One modern-day method of chiral resolution is used in the organic synthesis of the drug duloxetine: [4] RRR synthesis. In one of its steps the racemic alcohol 1 is dissolved in a mixture of toluene and methanol to which solution is added optically active (S)-mandelic acid 3. The alcohol (S)-enantiomer forms an insoluble diastereomeric salt with ...
Pure enantiomers also exhibit the phenomenon of optical activity and can be separated only with the use of a chiral agent. In nature, only one enantiomer of most chiral biological compounds, such as amino acids (except glycine, which is achiral), is present. An optically active compound shows two forms: D-(+) form and L-(−) form.
In chemistry, racemization is a conversion, by heat or by chemical reaction, of an optically active compound into a racemic (optically inactive) form. This creates a 1:1 molar ratio of enantiomers and is referred to as a racemic mixture (i.e. contain equal amount of (+) and (−) forms).