How many asymmetric carbon atoms are present in the following compounds?CH3 CH2 CH2 CH(CH3) CH2 CH2 CH2 CH3

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Question restatement: How many asymmetric carbon atoms are present in the following compound? CH3 CH2 CH2 CH(CH3) CH2 CH2 CH2 CH3.

Step-by-step analysis of the structure: The main carbon chain runs from left to right as an eight-carbon chain with a methyl substituent at the fourth carbon (counting from the left, the CH(CH3) group is at C4).

Identify potential stereocenters: An asymmetric (chiral) carbon is one that has four different substituents attached to it. In acyclic alkanes, such a carbon would typically be a carbon with a single hydrogen and three carbon-containing substituents of different identities.

Check each carbon for chirality:
- C1 (the leftmost CH3): not chiral (three hydrogens on carbon, not four distinct groups).
- C2 (CH2): not chiral (two hydrogens).
- C3 (CH2): not chiral (two hydrogens).
- C4 (the CH with the parentheses CH(CH3)): this carbon has four substituents: a hydrogen, a methyl group (CH3) attached directly to it, the left side going toward C3 (which leads to C2 and C1), and the right side going toward C5 (which leads to C6, C7, C8). The two carbon-containing substituents on either side are different lengths and environments (left side is a three-carbon chain extending to C3-C2-C1, right side is a longer path C5-C6-C7-C8). Therefore, all four substituents are different, making C4 a stereocenter.
- C5 (CH2): not chiral (two hydrogens).
- C6 (CH2): not chiral (two hydrogens).
- C7 (CH2): not chiral (two hydrogens).
- C8 (CH3): not chiral (three hydrogens).

Conclusion about potential options: The only carbon that meets the criterion for being asymmetric is the fourth carbon in the chain (the one bearing the CH(CH3) group). All other carbons either have hydrogens on them or attach to two identical substituents (in the case of CH2 or CH3 groups), so they cannot be stereocenters.

Why the other hypothetical counts would be incorrect:
- If someone suggested 0 asymmetric carbons, they would be overlooking the chiral center at C4, where four different substituents meet.
- If someone suggested 2 asymmetric carbons, they would be assuming another stereocenter exists elsewhere in the molecule; however, aside from C4, no other carbon is attached to four different groups.

Putting it together: the molecule contains one chiral (asymmetric) carbon, located at the carbon bearing the CH3 substituent (C4 in the chain). This aligns with the common reasoning that a single side-chain asymmetry under these conditions yields exactly one stereocenter.

My LMS Subjects Practice LMS quiz, Week 1

How many asymmetric carbon atoms are present in the following compounds?CH3 CH2 CH2 CH(CH3) CH2 CH2 CH2 CH3

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