Which statement holds for enantiomers?

Enantiomers are a specific type of stereoisomer that are non-superimposable mirror images of each other. This distinction is critical in understanding their properties and behavior. One key characteristic of enantiomers is that they rotate plane-polarized light in opposite directions. This phenomenon is known as optical activity. If one enantiomer rotates the light to the right, termed dextrorotatory, the other will rotate it to the left, known as levorotatory. This property stems from the differences in how each enantiomer interacts with light due to their unique three-dimensional arrangements.

In terms of the other options, enantiomers are not superimposable images of each other, which directly contradicts the first choice. They often exhibit very similar physical properties (such as boiling points and melting points), leading to option two being misleading as well. Lastly, the concept of meso compounds applies to molecules that have multiple stereocenters but also possess an internal plane of symmetry, which does not pertain to enantiomers specifically. Thus, the characteristic that enantiomers rotate polarized light in opposite directions stands out as the defining feature of these compounds.