Illustrated Glossary of Organic Chemistry

Racemic acid: An optically-inactive tartaric acid "isomer" produced during winemaking (from Latin racemus, bunch of grapes). Through resolution, Pasteur showed that racemic acid was not a single substance but instead a racemic mixture of (+)-tartaric acid and (-)-tartaric acid. The terms racemate, racemic mixture, and racemize are all derived from racemic acid.

	Resolution		+
Racemic acid		(+)-Tartaric acid		(-)-Tartaric acid