optical isomerism
- stereoisomerism in which the isomers are identical in molecular weight and most chemical and physical properties but differ in their effect on the rotation of polarized light.
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Origin of optical isomerism
First recorded in 1890–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
optical isomerism
- isomerism of chemical compounds in which the two isomers differ only in that their molecules are mirror images of each otherSee also dextrorotation, laevorotatory, racemize
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
optical isomerism
- Stereoisomerism involving the arrangement of substituents about an asymmetric carbon atom or atoms so that the various isomers differ in how they rotate a plane of polarized light.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.