Organic - 3.7 Optical Isomerism Flashcards
What is optical isomerism?
A form of stereoisomerism that occurs as a result of chirality in molecules
What is a chiral centre?
When an atom is surrounded by four different groups.
What is an enantiomer?
A pair of molecules that are mirror images of each other
What does optically active mean?
The molecule is capable of rotating the plane of vibration of plane polarised light.
How does a racemic mixture affect the plane of polarised light?
The is no effect on the plane of polarised light as one isomer rotates plane polarised light in one direction whilst the other rotates plane polarised light in the opposite direction and the effects cancel out.
What is a racemic mixture?
An optically inactive mixture of equal amounts of enantiomers of the same concentration.
What is plane polarised light?
Light in which all the waves vibrate in the same plane
What does optically active mean?
A substance that can rotate the plane of plane polarised light.
