The specific rotation of (P)-2,3-hexadiene (1) was measured as a function of wavelength for the gas phase, the neat liquid, and solutions. There was a surprisingly large difference between the gas phase and condensed phase values. The specific rotation was calculated using B3LYP and CCSD, and the difference in energy between the three low energy conformers was estimated at the G3 level. The Boltzmann-averaged CCSD-calculated rotations using the gauge independent velocity gauge representation, as well as the B3LYP values, are in agreement with the gas-phase experimental values. In order to avoid possible problems associated with the conformers of 1, 2,3-pentadiene (2) also was examined. Here again, there was a large difference between the gas-phase and condensed-phase specific rotations, with the CCSD velocity gauge (and B3LYP) results being close to the gas-phase experimental values. The possibility that 2,3-pentadiene could be distorted on going from the gas to liquid phase, thereby accounting for the effect of phase on the specific rotation, was examined via a Monte Carlo statistical mechanics simulation. No effect on the geometry was found. Specific rotations of 1 found in solutions were similar to those for the liquid phase, indicating that the phase difference was not due to association.