- Chemists use optical activity to identify enantiomers of compounds: forms that mirror each other, but cannot be superimposed, just as right and left hands mirror each other but cannot be superimposed, according to Western Oregon University.
- A single enantiomer of a compound will rotate polarized light by exactly a certain number of degrees in a standard polarimeter; the opposite enantiomer will rotate light by the negative of that number of degrees. A racemic mixture, in which both enantiomers are equally present, causes no rotation of light.
- Camphor exists in two enantiomers, although the (+)-enantiomer occurs more commonly, according to researchers Wackett and Oh at the University of Minnesota.
- Camphor shows a specific rotation of 44.26 degrees in its (+) or dextrorotatory (right-handed) enantiomer, according to Absolute Astronomy, so it follows that its (-) or levorotatory (left-handed) enantiomer has a specific rotation of -44.26 degrees.
- Enantiomerism, a form of chirality or "handedness" in molecules, should never be overlooked as an aspect of stereochemistry. Certain drugs, for example, have different effects in the human body as one enantiomer than they do as the opposite enantiomer. Understanding this concept is key to a broad knowledge of organic chemistry.
previous post