dextrorotary

Dextrorotary, often abbreviated as "d-" or (+)-, is a term used in chemistry to describe a substance that rotates the plane of plane-polarized light in a clockwise direction when viewed from the source of light. This property is known as optical activity. Chirality, the property of a molecule existing in two non-superimposable mirror image forms (enantiomers), is a prerequisite for a substance to be optically active. If a molecule is dextrorotatory, its enantiomer is levorotatory, meaning it rotates plane-polarized light in the counter-clockwise direction. The extent of rotation depends on the concentration of the substance, the path length of the light through the solution, the temperature, and the wavelength of the light used. This specific rotation is a characteristic physical property that can be used to identify and quantify chiral compounds. For example, D-glucose, a common sugar, is dextrorotatory, whereas its enantiomer, L-glucose, is levorotatory and is not metabolized by humans. The prefix "dextro" comes from the Latin word for "right," referring to the clockwise rotation.