Comments on: Optical Rotation, Optical Activity, and Specific Rotation https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/ Fri, 05 Apr 2024 01:56:58 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 By: How Do We Know Methane (CH4) Is Tetrahedral? | Straight A Mindset https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-674730 Tue, 17 Oct 2023 22:35:49 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-674730 […] Jacobus Henricus van’t Hoff , a fellow at the veterinary college in Utrecht, was among the first to address the possibility of three-dimensional carbon. In his “La Chimie dans L’Espace” (1874) he noted that the arrangement of atoms in space has important practical consequences – a point that had been completely neglected to that point. van’t Hoff showed that a tetrahedral arrangement of four different groups around a carbon atom (which he called an “asymmetric carbon”) would give rise to two different isomers, and furthermore, this would explain why tartaric acid (with two asymmetric carbon atoms) existed in three forms (+, –, and meso).   [Source] […]

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By: tasha https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-647876 Sat, 11 Feb 2023 14:38:45 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-647876 this was so helpful. now wondering why i didnt just come here in the first place i could have gotten an a plus for my organic chemistry exam

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By: Ajay K. Maurya https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-643955 Thu, 08 Dec 2022 11:53:57 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-643955 Plz give one suggestion to me
Malic acid , specific optical rotation (-0.1 to +0.1) why
and what are meaning of (-0.1 to +0.1) in subjected specific optical rotation
plz suggeste to me
with regards
Ajay k. Maurya

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By: James Ashenhurst https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-643860 Tue, 06 Dec 2022 20:32:04 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-643860 In reply to Keith.

Dilute it by half. You will either get +6 or +181.

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By: James Ashenhurst https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-599599 Tue, 06 Apr 2021 15:11:31 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-599599 In reply to Kali.

Whether a molecule is optically active is an independent property relative to whether or not it has a diastereomer.

For example cis and trans 2-butene are diastereomers, but the molecules are achiral, because each molecule has a plane of symmetry (in the plane of the page).

That’s the key thing when determining whether or not a molecule is capable of being optically active. Does it have a plane of symmetry?

Generally, a molecule with only one chiral center will not have a plane of symmetry, and therefore can be optically active.
Most molecules with two chiral centers also lack a plane of symmetry, and are therefore optically active, but you need to *watch out* for meso compounds, because these are molecules which have 2 (or more) chiral centers but are arranged in such a way that the molecule lacks a plane of symmetry.

(Just one last point. Don’t forget that the terms “enanantiomers”, “diastereomers”, etc. are about relationships between two molecules, just like “brother”, “cousin”, “father” are relationships between people. It’s possible for a molecule to be both an enantiomer of one molecule and a diastereomer of another, just like it’s possible for a person to be both a brother to one person and a father to another. That’s why I say that physical properties like optical rotation are independent of those terms.)

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By: Kali https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-599450 Thu, 01 Apr 2021 12:48:58 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-599450 Hi! I’m still confused with one thing. Are diastereomers always optically active? When is it not and when is it active?

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By: Yogendra K. https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-598774 Tue, 16 Mar 2021 09:19:02 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-598774 we are getting the Specific optical rotation results exact double against the limit what are probable reason as we have cross checked all the parameters but unable to find out the root cause.

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By: James Ashenhurst https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-598215 Tue, 23 Feb 2021 17:54:38 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-598215 In reply to Dave Blackburn.

Ha! That is a great point Dave!

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By: Dave Blackburn https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-598192 Mon, 22 Feb 2021 18:21:39 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-598192 If you had a sample volume of 2.62 mL and the cell was 12.5 cm, the cross-sectional area of the tube would be about 0.2 cm^2 and its diameter would be about 5 mm. Do people often do polarimetry in NMR tubes?

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By: Veronica Medina https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2017/02/07/optical-rotation-optical-activity-and-specific-rotation/#comment-587886 Wed, 11 Nov 2020 03:01:39 +0000 https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/?p=10446#comment-587886 The pure sample of the R isomer of a compound has [𝛼] = +5.756°. If you will prepare a
solution with 0.300 mol of the R isomer, and 0.700 mol of the S isomer, what will be your
prediction of the [𝛼] of the solution?

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