Laevorotatory stereoisomers

The chief alkaloid of various species of Cinchona (Rubiaceae). It is a laevorotatory stereoisomer of quinidine. 

With chiral molecules, if the reflection of one of them in a mirror was viewed, the reflection would show the other stereoisomer. These stereoisomers are called mirror images or enantiomers. Enantiomers are optically active one rotates the plane of polarized light to the right (clockwise) and is called the dextrorotatory stereoisomer, whilst the other rotates the plane of polarized light to the left (anticlockwise) to the same extent and is called the laevorotatory stereoisomer. A mixture of each... 

Chirality is an important aspect of aroma chemicals since enantiomers of the same compound may possess different organoleptic characters. Chirality means the occurrence of one or more asymmetric carbon atoms in an organic molecule. Such molecules exhibit optical activity and therefore have the ability to rotate plane-polarised light by equal amounts but in opposite directions. In other words, two stereoisomers which are mirror images of each other are said to be enantiomers. If two enantiomers exist in equal proportions, then the compound is called racemic. Enantiomers can be laevorotatory (, I, -, S), meaning rotating the plane of the polarised light to the left or dextrorotatory (°, d, -f, R), that is. 

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