5.8: The Polarimetry Experiment
- Page ID
- 191215
In measuring optical rotation, plane-polarized light travels down a long tube containing the sample. If it is a liquid, the sample may be placed in the tube as a pure liquid (it is sometimes called a neat sample). Usually, the sample is dissolved in a solvent and the resulting solution is placed in the tube.
There are important factors affecting the outcome of the experiment.
- Optical rotation depends on the number of molecules encountered by the light during the experiment.
- Two factors can be controlled in the experiment and must be accounted for when comparing an experimental result to a reported value.
- The more concentrated the sample (the more molecules per unit volume), the more molecules will be encountered.
- Concentrated solutions and neat samples will have higher optical rotations than dilute solutions.
- The value of the optical rotation must be corrected for concentration.
- The longer the path of light through a solution of molecules, the more molecules will be encountered by the light, and the greater the optical rotation.
- The value of the optical rotation must be corrected for the length of the cell used to hold the sample.
In summary:
\[[\alpha] = \frac{\alpha}{c \times l} \nonumber\]
- a is the measured optical rotation.
- c is the sample concentration in grams per deciliter (1 dL = 10 mL).
- That is, c = m / V (m = mass in g, V = volume in dL).
- l is the cell length in decimeters (1 dm = 10 cm = 100 mm)
- The square brackets mean the optical rotation has been corrected for these variables.
Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)
A pure sample of the naturally-occurring, chiral compound A (0.250 g) is dissolved in acetone (2.0 mL) and the solution is placed in a 0.5 dm cell. Three polarimetry readings are recorded with the sample: 0.775o, 0.806o, 0.682o.
a) What is [a]?
b) What would be the [a] value of the opposite enantiomer?
- Answer a:
-
\[[a] = \frac{a}{(c)(l)} \nonumber\]
\[c = (\frac{0.250g}{2mL})(\frac{10mL}{1 dL}) = 1.25 \frac{g}{dL} \nonumber\]
\[a = \frac{0.775 ^{o} + 0.806^{o} + 0.682^{o}}{3} = 0.754 ^{o} \nonumber\]
\[[a] = \frac{a}{(c)(l)} = \frac{0.754^{o}}{(1.25 \frac{g}{dL})(0.5dm)} = + 1.21 ^{o} \nonumber\]
- Answer b:
-
-1.21o
Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\)
A pure sample of the (+) enantiomer of compound B shows [a] = 32o. What would be the observed a if a solution of the sample was made by dissolving 0.150 g in 1.0 mL of dichloromethane and was then placed in a 0.5 dm cell?
- Answer
-
\[[a] = \frac{a}{(c)(l)} \nonumber\]
\[[a] = 32^{o} \nonumber\]
\[c = (\frac{0.150g}{1mL})(\frac{10mL}{1dL}) = 1.5 \frac{g}{dL} \nonumber\]
\[[a] = \frac{a}{(c)(l)} = 32^{o} = \frac{a}{(1.5 \frac{g}{dL})(0.5 dm} \nonumber\]
Solve for a.
\[a = + 24^{o} \nonumber\]