chemistry D-amphetamines

[michyd]

hello

is D-amphetamine???? does it refer to drugs which have similar psychoactive properties as amphetamines?

thanks.

[jonmoulton]

The D refers to the optical activity of the molecule. Some organic compounds cause the polarization direction of plane-polarized light to rotate. D compounds (from dextro, or right) are those that rotate the polarization plane clockwise when viewed from the position of the light source. Amino acids are mostly L compounds (from levo, or left). Compounds that rotate plane polarized light contain chiral centers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_activity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirality_(chemistry)