Question

A. Enantiomers: Certain substances have the unique property of rotating the plane of plane-polarized light. Such light rotation is detectable with the aid of a polarimeter. In order for a molecule to be optically active it must be chiral. Chiral objects lack a plane of symmetry and are non-superimposable on their mirror images. A sp?- hybridized carbon atom can fulfill these requirements if all four of its substituents are different. 1. Methane a) Prepare a methane molecule and then substitute two of its hydrogens with two different atoms (with different color) to get the model of CH XY. Is there a plane of symmetry cutting through the X, Y, and C atoms? b) Build the model for CHXYZ by substituting one of the hydrogens in CH2XY with another different substituent (a third atom with a different color). Does this molecule have a plane of symmetry? c) Place the model in front of you and prepare another model exactly like the first one, with all the substituents pointing in exactly the same directions. These models are superimposable. Now, exchange the places of any two substituents on one of the models. Are the models superimposable now? d) Set the models beside each other with their hydrogen atoms pointing upward. (Include the picture