Question

how saccharic is optically active

Answer 1

, or enantiomers, have the same sequence of atoms and bonds but are different in their 3D shape. Two enantiomers are nonsuperimposible mirror images of one another (i.e., chiral), with the most common cited example being our hands. Our left hand is a mirror image of our right, yet there is no way our left thumb can be over our right thumb if our palms are facing the same way and placed over one another. Optical isomers also have no axis of symmetry, which means that there is no line that bisects the compound such that the left half is a mirror image of the right half.

Optical isomers have basically the same properties (melting points, boiling points,