Finding Stereoisomers
Chemistry
Level
3
Find out the total number of possible products (including stereo products).
The answer is 16.
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1 solution
The above reaction is an "aldol" reaction. The first compound is a ketone which has two α carbons which can attack whereas the aldehyde has only one.
Considering the following reactions:
Cross-aldol between the two compounds.
Inter-aldol between the ketone molecules.
Inter-aldol between the aldehyde molecules.
The following compounds (structures) are formed:
All the molecules on the left have one chiral carbon and the right molecules have two chiral carbons.
Therefore, each molecule on the left has 2 stereoisomers and the ones on the right have four each.
Total = 2 ⋅ 4 + 4 ⋅ 2 = 1 6