Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 4, 2026

Coulomb Explosion Imaging as a Tool to Distinguish Between Stereoisomers
Published on: August 18, 2017
Polarimetry as a tool for the study of solutions of chiral solutes
Anna V Orlova1, Renato R Andrade, Clarissa O da Silva
1N. K. Kochetkov Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry, N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky prospect 47, 11991 Moscow (Russian Federation), Fax: (+7) 499-135-5328.
Abstract:
Optical rotation of aqueous solutions of D-levoglucosan was studied experimentally in the 0.03-4.0 mol L(-1) concentration range and a nonlinear concentration dependence of specific optical rotation (SR) was revealed. Discontinuities observed in the concentration plot of SR (at 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mol L(-1)) are well correlated with those found by static and dynamic light scattering and identify concentration ranges in which different solution domains (supramers) may exist. The average SR experimental value for a D-levoglucosan aqueous solution ([α]D(28) -58.5±8.7 deg dm(-1) cm(-3) g(-1)) was found to be in good agreement with values obtained by theoretical calculation (TD-DFT/GIAO) of SR for 15 different conformers revealed by conformational sampling at the PCM/B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level, which were shown to be strongly affected by the solvation microenvironment (0, 1, 2, and 3 explicit solvent molecules considered) due to local geometrical changes induced in the solute molecule. This exceptionally high sensitivity of SR makes polarimetry a unique method capable of sensing changes in the structure of supramers detected in this study.
Related Concept Videos
Measuring Reaction Rates
Properties of Enantiomers and Optical Activity
Molecular Shape and Polarity
Solution Formation
This selective...
Racemic Mixtures and the Resolution of Enantiomers
Analyte Adsorption and Distribution

