Is chirality necessary condition for being optical active?
Yes, a carbon bonded to 4 different groups is optically active/ Therefore, chirality is a necessary condition for being optical active
Louis Pasteur concluded from his investigation of tartrate salts that optical activity is a direct consequence of chirality.
In short: chiral = optical activity achiral = no optical activity
But there are molecules which despite of having chiral carbons aren't optically active and there are some molecules which are optically active but does not have any chiral carbons. For example, ortho substituted biphenyl does not contain chiral carbon but they are optically active.
@nincompoop @Zale101
are you saying that achiral can be optically active?
draw these things
example
|dw:1452294194647:dw|
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