View Full Version : an optically active compound..............HELP......


Toothguy80
06-24-2007, 08:41 PM
In achiver, it says that an optically active compound is one that has a chiral center that forms an enantiomer with one in excess.

The other options are that it forms a racemic mixture,
does not rotate plane of polarized light
it's levorotaroary..
dextorotrary....

forgive my spelling..

what is a racemic mixture?
how do you know that an optically active compound forms enantiomers with one in excess?

Anemone
06-24-2007, 09:26 PM
In achiver, it says that an optically active compound is one that has a chiral center that forms an enantiomer with one in excess.

The other options are that it forms a racemic mixture,
does not rotate plane of polarized light
it's levorotaroary..
dextorotrary....

forgive my spelling..

what is a racemic mixture?
how do you know that an optically active compound forms enantiomers with one in excess?

racemic mixtures have equal amounts of right and left handed enantiomers of a certain chiral molecule.they rotate plane polarized light in opposite directions,ergo cancel each other out. if you start with a chiral molecule in sn1, you'll get a racemic mixture as your product, meaning that you lose the optical activity that comes with chirality(obviously assuming that it isnt meso).