Abstract

Quartz, the most abundant mineral in Earth’s crust, is a chiral crystal. It was the first material for which the phenomenon of the optical rotation was observed. In the late 19th century/beginning of the 20th, several researchers, the most famous of which is Le Châtelier, investigated how this optical rotation changes with temperature. By employing a modern analytical/computational tool for evaluating the degree of chirality on a continuous scale, we were able to show a remarkable agreement between the original optical rotation/temperature curve, and the chirality/temperature curve. We thus provide a direct interpretation of the early observations, as reflected in the dependence of the optical rotation of the degree of chirality, linking these two properties quantitatively.

Graphical abstract

Le Châtelier’s century-old observations of the effect of temperature changes on the optical rotation of quartz, are revisited with modern quantitative evaluation of the degree of chirality of the building blocks of this chiral material. A remarkable agreement between old and new is obtained, and interpreted.

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Article Outline

1. Introduction

2. Results and discussion

3. Conclusion

References