Question

How many carbon atoms would be in the simplest chiral alkane?

Answer 1

You need seven carbon atoms.

Explanation:

You need a central carbon atom with four different groups.

The smallest groups are hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, and either propyl or isopropyl.

Dr. Hayek pointed out the error in my original answer.

He used a propyl group, so I will use an isopropyl group to give an alternate structure.

Put these groups all on one carbon atom, and you get 2,3-dimethylpentane.

Answer 2

7 carbon atoms

Explanation:

Here is how you could explain it.

For a chiral centre , you will need four different substituents. Since this is an alkane, so we cannot use any functional groups. Therefore, we will stick to the smallest substituents of alkyl family, which are methyl , ethyl and propyl . Of course the fourth substituent is simply hydrogen .

Now, when counting the number of carbon atoms we find 7 carbons .