Optical Activity

#Chemistry
Chiral molecules can rotate plane-polarized light either clockwise or counterclockwise

• Dextrorotatory
• Levorotatory

$\displaystyle [\alpha]=\frac{\alpha_{\text{observed}}}{[x]\times l}$

• $\displaystyle [\alpha]$ is the specific rotation of plane-polarized light in degrees
  • Instrinsic property of the compound
• $\displaystyle \alpha_{\text{observed}}$ is the observed rotation in degrees
• $\displaystyle [x]$ is the concentration of the compound in $\displaystyle \mathrm{\frac{g}{mL}}$
  • $\displaystyle l$ is the path length of the light in $\displaystyle \mathrm{dm}$ (SI)