Help chem

Help, I don’t get why the one I circled in red is a chiral carbon, it’s attached to a ch3, ch2,ch2 and a h.
A chiral c is when 4 different groups but here there’s 3

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 1

bl0bf1sh

Original post by Alevelhelp.1

Help, I don’t get why the one I circled in red is a chiral carbon, it’s attached to a ch3, ch2,ch2 and a h.
A chiral c is when 4 different groups but here there’s 3

What are the CH2s attached to?
The molecule isn't symmetrical.

Reply 2

Tagsmags

Original post by Alevelhelp.1

Help, I don’t get why the one I circled in red is a chiral carbon, it’s attached to a ch3, ch2,ch2 and a h.
A chiral c is when 4 different groups but here there’s 3

For a carbon atom to be chiral it has be be bonded to four non-identical groups or atoms.

I think you have made the assumption that as the carbon atom is covalently bonded to three groups which start with CH2 that it is bonded to 3 of the same group, however this is not the case.

When you refer to a group in the context of a chiral carbon, this does not simply refer to the first few groups of atoms which it is bonded to, but the entirely of the rest of the chain.

So in this case the carbon is bonded to a H, a CH2, and is connected, by two C-C bonds, to the rest of the structure. These two groups are almost identical, however the -OH is closer to the chiral carbon in one of the chains than the other, therefore they are non-identical.

I hope this helps.