<sod>Tartaric acid played an important role in the discovery of [[chirality (chemistry)|chemical chirality]]. This property of tartaric acid was first observed in 1832 by [[Jean Baptiste Biot]], who observed its ability to rotate polarized light. [[Louis Pasteur]] continued this research in 1847 by investigating the shapes of [[Potassium sodium tartrate]] crystals, which he found to be chiral. By manually sorting the differently shaped crystals under magnification, Pasteur was the first to produce a pure sample of levotartaric acid.<ref>L. Pasteur (1848) "Mémoire sur la relation qui peut exister entre la forme cristalline et la composition chimique, et sur la cause de la polarisation rotatoire" (Memoir on the relationship which can exist between crystalline form and chemical composition, and on the cause of rotary polarization)," ''Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences'' (Paris), vol. 26, pp. 535–538.</ref><ref>L. Pasteur (1848) [https://books.google.com/books?id=gJ45AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA442 "Sur les relations qui peuvent exister entre la forme cristalline, la composition chimique et le sens de la polarisation rotatoire"] (On the relations that can exist between crystalline form, and chemical composition, and the sense of rotary polarization), ''Annales de Chimie et de Physique'', 3rd series, vol. 24, no. 6, pages 442–459.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=George B. Kauffman and Robin D. Myers |year=1998|url=http://192.129.24.144/licensed_materials/00897/papers/0003006/36kau897.pdf|title=Pasteur's resolution of racemic acid: A sesquicentennial retrospect and a new translation|journal=The Chemical Educator|volume= 3|issue=6|pages=1–4|doi=10.1007/s00897980257a}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=H. D. Flack |year=2009|url=http://crystal.flack.ch/sh5092.pdf|title=Louis Pasteur's discovery of molecular chirality and spontaneous resolution in 1848, together with a complete review of his crystallographic and chemical work|journal=Acta Crystallographica A|volume=65| pages =371–389|pmid=19687573|doi=10.1107/S0108767309024088|issue=5}}</ref><eod>
<sod>Tartaric acid played an important role in the discovery of [[chirality (chemistry)|chemical chirality]]. This property of tartaric acid was first observed in 1832 by [[Jean Baptiste Biot]], who observed its ability to rotate polarized light. [[Louis Pasteur]] continued this research in 1847 by investigating the shapes of [[Potassium sodium tartrate]] crystals, which he found to be chiral. By manually sorting the differently shaped crystals , Pasteur was the first to produce a pure sample of levotartaric acid.<ref>L. Pasteur (1848) "Mémoire sur la relation qui peut exister entre la forme cristalline et la composition chimique, et sur la cause de la polarisation rotatoire" (Memoir on the relationship which can exist between crystalline form and chemical composition, and on the cause of rotary polarization)," ''Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences'' (Paris), vol. 26, pp. 535–538.</ref><ref>L. Pasteur (1848) [https://books.google.com/books?id=gJ45AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA442 "Sur les relations qui peuvent exister entre la forme cristalline, la composition chimique et le sens de la polarisation rotatoire"] (On the relations that can exist between crystalline form, and chemical composition, and the sense of rotary polarization), ''Annales de Chimie et de Physique'', 3rd series, vol. 24, no. 6, pages 442–459.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=George B. Kauffman and Robin D. Myers |year=1998|url=http://192.129.24.144/licensed_materials/00897/papers/0003006/36kau897.pdf|title=Pasteur's resolution of racemic acid: A sesquicentennial retrospect and a new translation|journal=The Chemical Educator|volume= 3|issue=6|pages=1–4|doi=10.1007/s00897980257a}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=H. D. Flack |year=2009|url=http://crystal.flack.ch/sh5092.pdf|title=Louis Pasteur's discovery of molecular chirality and spontaneous resolution in 1848, together with a complete review of his crystallographic and chemical work|journal=Acta Crystallographica A|volume=65| pages =371–389|pmid=19687573|doi=10.1107/S0108767309024088|issue=5}}</ref><eod>