[mike]

Yes, you can see in the diagram above that there are two chiral carbons in the molecule.

I think this is the (-)-balanol which is the one you want (I think)

[newcastler]

But what is the difference between the 2?

So I can use the racemic mixture to detect for balanol in my samples using HPLC?

Sorry abit confuse and panicky right now.

[mike]

One will rotate the plane polarised light clockwise the other will rotate it anti-clockwise.

Also often only one isomer of a compound will be biologically active, in this case I would guess that whatever the (-)-balanol does the (+)-balanol doesn't do, biologically.

As far as HPLC is concerned you may want to wait for a reply from someone with more knowledge on the topic than myself. I would presume though that you could separate isomers using HPLC (I don't know the details) in which case there would be a different standard for each isomer. This doesn't mean you could use the racemic mixture though.