Optical Activity
2-Chlorobutane is optically active because:
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About This Question
- Subject
- chemistry
- Chapter
- organic compounds containing halogens
- Topic
- optical activity
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Year
- 2025
Solution
Correct Answer:
It has a chiral carbon
A molecule is optically active if it is non-superimposable on its mirror image (chiral).
- 2-Chlorobutane structure: CH3−CH(Cl)−CH2CH3
- The second carbon (C2) is bonded to four completely different groups:
- −H
- −Cl
- −CH3 (Methyl)
- −CH2CH3 (Ethyl)
- Therefore, C2 is a Chiral Center (Asymmetric Carbon). It lacks any plane or center of symmetry, allowing for the existence of two enantiomers that rotate plane-polarized light.
This easy difficulty chemistry question is from the chapter organic compounds containing halogens, covering the topic of optical activity. It appeared in the 2025 exam.
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