Measuring enantiomeric excess and hence determining optical purity is important for pharmaceutical applications, since the different enantiomers have different physiological effects. The amount of enantiomeric excess (EE) or the racemic mixtures can be measured with polarimeters by Schmidt + Haensch. In chemistry, an enantiomer is one of two stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other that are not identical, like as one’s left and right hands are mirror images of each other that cannot appear identical simply by reorientation. If that is the case, a molecule is called chiral. Enantiomeric purity is very important for pharmaceutical applications, since the different enantiomers have different physiological effects. The amount of enantiomeric excess (EE) or the racemic mixtures can be measured with polarimetry.
