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Chirality of 1-Pentanol and 3-Methyl-2-Pentanol
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+ Chirality
+ Stereochemistry
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Oscar Quagliano
Chirality of 1-Pentanol and 3-Methyl-2-Pentanol
As DHMO said, you need 3D diagrams, so here they are (all taken from PubChem):
a) 1-pentanol:
A good rule of thumb is that a chiral carbon has four distinct substituents (you can't have more than four anyway).
This structure has no such carbon: every carbon has at least two hydrogen atoms attached.
None is chiral.
b) 3-pentanol:
This one has none either.
The carbon in the middle of the chain, bonded to oxygen, has two ethyl groups attached, so not chiral.
c) 3-methyl-2-butanol:
The carbon attached to the oxygen has four distinct groups: hydroxyl, hydrogen, methyl and tert-butyl.
So this carbon is chiral.
d) 3-methyl-1-butanol:
Here every single carbon has either two hydrogen atoms or two methyl groups attached, so not chiral.
Since the only chiral carbon found is in structure c), this is the correct answer.
As DHMO said, you need 3D diagrams, so here they are (all taken from PubChem):
a) 1-pentanol:
A good rule of thumb is that a chiral carbon has four distinct substituents (you can't have more than four anyway).This structure has no such carbon: every carbon has at least two hydrogen atoms attached.None is chiral.
b) 3-pentanol:
This one has none either.The carbon in the middle of the chain, bonded to oxygen, has two ethyl groups attached, so not chiral.
c) 3-methyl-2-butanol:
The carbon attached to the oxygen has four distinct groups: hydroxyl, hydrogen, methyl and tert-butyl.So this carbon is chiral.
d) 3-methyl-1-butanol:
Here every single carbon has either two hydrogen atoms or two methyl groups attached, so not chiral.
Since the only chiral carbon found is in structure c), this is the correct answer.
As DHMO said, you need 3D diagrams, so here they are (all taken from PubChem):
a) 1-pentanol:
A good rule of thumb is that a chiral carbon has four distinct substituents (you can't have more than four anyway). This structure has no such carbon: every carbon has at least two hydrogen atoms attached. None is chiral.
b) 3-pentanol:
This one has none either. The carbon in the middle of the chain, bonded to oxygen, has two ethyl groups attached, so not chiral.
c) 3-methyl-2-butanol:
The carbon attached to the oxygen has four distinct groups: hydroxyl, hydrogen, methyl and tert-butyl. So this carbon is chiral.
d) 3-methyl-1-butanol:
Here every single carbon has either two hydrogen atoms or two methyl groups attached, so not chiral.
Since the only chiral carbon found is in structure c), this is the correct answer.
As DHMO said, you need 3D diagrams, so here they are (all taken from PubChem):
a) 1-pentanol:
A good rule of thumb is that a chiral carbon has four distinct substituents (you can't have more than four anyway).This structure has no such carbon: every carbon has at least two hydrogen atoms attached.None is chiral.
b) 3-pentanol:
This one has none either.The carbon in the middle of the chain, bonded to oxygen, has two ethyl groups attached, so not chiral.
c) 3-methyl-2-butanol:
The carbon attached to the oxygen has four distinct groups: hydroxyl, hydrogen, methyl and tert-butyl.So this carbon is chiral.
d) 3-methyl-1-butanol:
Here every single carbon has either two hydrogen atoms or two methyl groups attached, so not chiral.
Since the only chiral carbon found is in structure c), this is the correct answer.
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