Chapter 10.6, Problem 5E

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:Whether $\text{meso-stilbene}$ dibromide is optically active or not and the type symmetry element that precludes the existence of an enantiomer for $\text{meso-stilbene}$ dibromide should be identified.

Concept introduction:Optical activity refers to ability to rotate the plane polarized light. For example, if the light is passed through a substance and the light that emerges has radiations that are confined to one plane only then substance is said to be optically active.

The earliest criteria for optical activity were presence of a chiral center. The chiral refer to species attached to four different substituents. Chiral center leads to exists of organic compounds as two enantiomeric forms. However chiral center alone is not sufficient condition for determination of optical activity.

The criteria to identify the optical activity are to look for absence of any symmetry element. The symmetry elements make any molecule optically inactive.