The specific rotation of a sample in a polarimeter can give insight into whether the sample is a pure enantiomer or a mixture of positive and negative enantiomers.
A racemic mixture of equal parts positive and negative enantiomers has a specific rotation of 0 degrees.
Parameters:
(1) specific rotation of the pure positive enantiomer in degrees.
(2) observed rotation of the sample in degrees
optical purity in percent =
= (observed rotation) / (specific rotation of the pure substance) * 100%
percent positive enantiomer =
= (optical purity in percent) + ((100 - (optical purity in percent)) / 2)
percent negative enantiomer =
= ((100 - (optical purity in percent)) / 2)
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