Stokes polarimetry in multiply scattering chiral media: effects of experimental geometry

Xinxin Guo1, Michael F G Wood, I Alex Vitkin

  • 1Division of Biophysics and Bioimaging, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Canada. xguo@uhnres.utoronto.ca

Applied Optics
|June 21, 2007
PubMed

Related Concept Videos

Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity02:24

Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity

It is essential to understand the difference between chiral and achiral interactions and the implications thereof in optical activity and their applications. Just as our feet, which are chiral, interact uniquely with chiral objects, such as a pair of shoes, but identically with achiral socks, enantiomers of a molecule exhibit different properties only when they interact with other chiral media. An example of a significant implication from this facet is the phenomenon known as optical activity,...
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers02:25

Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

Molecules that possess multiple chiral centers can afford a large number of stereoisomers. For instance, while some molecules like 2-butanol have one chiral center, defined as a tetrahedral carbon atom with four different substituents attached, several molecules like butane-2,3-diol have multiple chiral centers. A simple formula to predict the number of stereoisomers possible for a molecule with n chiral centers is 2n. However, there can be a lower number where some of the stereoisomers are...
Stokes' Law01:20

Stokes' Law

Viscous forces, like friction, are intermolecular forces that resist the relative motion of molecules over each other. When a solid body moves through a liquid, viscous forces drag it in the opposite direction. The force's magnitude depends on the solid's shape and size, as well as its speed and the liquid's coefficient of viscosity, density and temperature.
The expression for the force on a solid spherical object in a fluid is called Stokes' law. Stokes' law is valid only for low Reynolds...
Chirality02:25

Chirality

Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Fischer Projections02:18

Fischer Projections

Learning to draw Fischer projections of molecules and understanding their relevance plays a crucial role in the visual depiction of organic molecules. A Fischer projection is a two-dimensional projection on a planar surface to simplify the three-dimensional wedge–dash representation of molecules. This is especially helpful in the case of molecules with multiple chiral centers that can be difficult to draw. Here, all the bonds of interest are represented as horizontal or vertical lines. While...
Radical Halogenation: Stereochemistry01:33

Radical Halogenation: Stereochemistry

Stereochemistry is the study of the different spatial arrangements of atoms in a given molecule. The stereochemistry of radical halogenations can be understood from three different situations:
Halogenation to form a new chiral center: