Classify the following compounds as chiral achiral but not m

Classify the following compounds as chiral, achiral (but not meso), or meso. OH Ist structure: HO2C.H OH 2nd structure: Co 3rd structure:

Solution

A chiral molecule has a non-superimposable mirror image. That means if we draw the mirror image of that molecule it does not match with the original molecule. The chiral molecule contains the asymmetric carbon atom called as a chiral center.

The 1st compound is meso compound: meso compound is a stereoisomer with a superimposable mirror image.

The 2nd and 3rd structure does not contain chiral center so this is achiral compound.