Topic summary
Dextrorotary
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Optical rotation.
Forms
A chemical compound that causes dextrorotation is dextrorotatory or dextrorotary, while a compound that causes laevorotation is laevorotatory or laevorotary. Compounds with these properties consist of chiral molecules and are said to have optical activity. If a chiral molecule is dextrorotary, its enantiomer (geometric mirror image) will be laevorotary, and vice versa. Enantiomers rotate plane-polarized light the same number of degrees, but in opposite directions.