Forests such as the Amazon rainforest emit huge amounts of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) into the atmosphere. These compounds impact the physical and chemical properties of the atmosphere and also our climate. The molecules react rapidly with ambient OH radicals and ozone, thereby influencing the oxidation capacity of the atmosphere for pollutants such as carbon monoxide and greenhouse gases such as methane. Furthermore, BVOC are precursors to secondary organic aerosols, which affect the Earth’s radiative budget. Many BVOCs such as a-pinene are chiral. This means that they exist in two non-superimposable mirror image forms just like our left and right hands. Scientists speak of enantiomers, or plus and minus forms. However, all physical properties such as their boiling point, mass and their reaction rate with atmospheric oxidizing agents like OH and ozone are identical.
— source Max Planck Institute for Chemistry | Aug 27, 2020