1. rotating the plane of polarization of light to the left (counterclockwise when viewed from the source); having a negative optical rotation.
Usage: chemistry; physics; also called levorotatory

Examples

• The levorotary compound bent the polarized light in the opposite direction from its dextrorotary isomer.
• Fructose is a levorotary sugar that rotates plane-polarized light counterclockwise.
• Scientists identified the levorotary form of the molecule through optical rotation measurements.
• The levorotary enantiomer showed different biological activity than its mirror-image counterpart.
• In polarimetry, levorotary substances are assigned negative rotation values.