History
The term optical activity is derived from the interaction of chiral materials with polarized light. A solution of the (−)-form of an optical isomer rotates the plane of polarization of a beam of polarized light in a counterclockwise direction (levorotatory), vice-versa for the (+) (dextrorotatory) optical isomer. The property was first observed by Jean-Baptiste Biot in 1815, and gained considerable importance in the sugar industry, analytical chemistry, and pharmaceuticals. Louis Pasteur deduced in 1848 that this phenomenon has a molecular basis. Artificial composite materials displaying the analog of optical activity but in the microwave region were introduced by J.C. Bose in 1898, and gained considerable attention from the mid-1980s. The term chirality itself was coined by Lord Kelvin in 1873.
Read more about this topic: Chirality (chemistry)
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