In order to produce amino acids from methane how many substituents should occupy the valency positions of the carbon

Options

A. 1
B. 3
C. 2
D. 4

Answer

To determine how many substituents should occupy the valency positions of carbon in order to produce amino acids from methane, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Understand the Structure of Methane**:
- Methane (CH₄) consists of one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms.

2. **Identify the Valency of Carbon**:
- Carbon has a valency of 4, meaning it can form four bonds with other atoms.

3. **Determine the Structure of Amino Acids**:
- Amino acids generally have a basic structure that includes an amino group (NH₂), a carboxylic acid group (COOH), and a variable side chain (R group).

4. **Substituting Hydrogen Atoms**:
- To convert methane into an amino acid, we need to replace some of the hydrogen atoms with functional groups.
- For example, if we keep 3 hydrogen atoms on the carbon and replace 1 hydrogen with a carboxylic acid group (COOH) and another hydrogen with an amino group (NH₂), we can form a simple amino acid.

5. **Final Structure**:
- The resulting structure after substituting the hydrogen atoms would look like this:
- One carbon atom bonded to one carboxylic acid group, one amino group, and one hydrogen atom, which gives us the structure of glycine (the simplest amino acid).

6. **Count the Substituents**:
- In total, we have 3 substituents (NH₂, COOH, and one hydrogen atom).
- Therefore, the number of substituents that occupy the valency positions of carbon to produce an amino acid from methane is 4.

### Conclusion:
The answer is that 4 substituents should occupy the valency positions of the carbon to produce amino acids from methane.

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