Question

1) Suppose you place a sample in a polarimeter and observe a rotation of 90º. How can you be sure that the sample isn't rotating the plane-polarized light by -270º (both would give the same reading on the polarimeter)? Propose a way, either in throat or experimentation, that would allow you to discern between these possibilities.

2) It has been shown that it is possible to react alkenes that are chiral with chiral catalysts to obtain products that are over 99% optically pure. Related to you studies i stereochemistry, suppose we perform one of these reactions on an alkene and obtain a product with an optical purity of 92.3%. The product consists of the desired molecule and it's enantiomer. Suppose you have 54g of product. How much of each enantiomer do you have? Show your calculations.

Answer 1