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A racemic mixture is a mixture containing equal amounts (50:50) of both enantiomers of a chiral chemical compound (e.g., of l- and d-alanine). By definition the enantiomeric excess of a racemic mixture is equal to zero. A racemic mixture will induce no rotation of the plane of polarization of polarized light. The term racemic should not be confused with the term achiral, which refers to compounds which are not chiral.
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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Bada, J. (2015). Racemic Mixture. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_1329
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_1329
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