Question

Which of the following molecules are chiral and which are achiral?

butane

2-butanol
2-propanol
2-bromobutane
1-bromobutane

Answer 1

`"2-butanol"`, and `"2-bromobutane"` are chiral.

Explanation:

`C2` of `"2-butanol"`, and `"2-bromobutane"` have 4 different groups attached, and the compounds are, therefore, capable of supporting optical isomerism, viz. 2 optical isomers. These materials would be extremely hard to resolve experimentally.