One Minus One Does Not Always Equal Zero in Chemistry
Wednesday, April 27, 2016 - 04:20
in Physics & Chemistry
In 1848, Louis Pasteur showed that molecules that are mirror images of each other had exactly opposite rotations of light. When mixed in solution, they cancel the effects of the other, and no rotation of light is observed. Now, a research team from Northwestern University and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France is the first to demonstrate that a mixture of mirror-image molecules crystallized in the solid state can be optically active.