A series of optically active aliphatic aldehydes and methyl ketones has been synthesized for optical rotatory dispersion measurements. The single asymmetric center was always the same (S) since it was derived from (-)-2-methylbutanol-1 (“optically active amyl alcohol”) which has been related to L-glyceraldehyde. The series of methyl ketones consisted of members in which the carbonyl function was separated by 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 carbon atoms ...
