Question #04194
1 Answer
It means that they rotate light.
Explanation:
Organic compounds that have at least one chiral carbon, i.e.: a carbon that has every bond different than the other, have some kind of optical activity, that means that when light pass through the compound, its path is changed.
We call compounds that make light go to the right when seen through a certain equipment dextrorotatory, and compounsd that make light go to the left when seen through a certain equipment levorotatory.
As a rule thumb for every optically active molecule there is, there's another with the exact same composition and arrangement except to the other side; being able to have very different effects on the human body among other things.
We say that a solution with an equal amount of these two forms of the compound, so that light doesn't bend in any way is a rascemic mix.
