On monochlorination of 2-methylbutane, the total number of chiral compound formed is :

Options

A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8

Answer

To solve the problem of determining the total number of chiral compounds formed from the monochlorination of 2-methylbutane, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the structure of 2-methylbutane
2-methylbutane has the following structure:
```
CH3
|
CH3-CH-CH2-CH3
|
CH3
```
This molecule has a total of 5 carbon atoms, with a methyl group attached to the second carbon.

### Step 2: Identify the possible positions for chlorination
When monochlorination occurs, a chlorine atom replaces one hydrogen atom. The hydrogen atoms that can be replaced are on different carbon atoms. The possible positions for chlorination are:
1. At the first carbon (C1)
2. At the second carbon (C2)
3. At the third carbon (C3)
4. At the fourth carbon (C4)

### Step 3: Determine the products of chlorination
When chlorination occurs at each of these positions, we can analyze the resulting compounds:
1. **Chlorination at C1**:
- Product: CH2Cl-CH(CH3)-CH2-CH3 (Chiral)
2. **Chlorination at C2**:
- Product: CH3-CHCl-CH2-CH3 (Not chiral, as it has two identical methyl groups)
3. **Chlorination at C3**:
- Product: CH3-CH(CH3)-CHCl-CH3 (Chiral)
4. **Chlorination at C4**:
- Product: CH3-CH(CH3)-CH2-CH2Cl (Not chiral, as it has two identical hydrogen atoms)

### Step 4: Identify chiral centers
A chiral center is a carbon atom that has four different substituents. From the products:
1. The product from chlorination at C1 has four different substituents (Cl, CH3, CH2, H) - **Chiral**
2. The product from chlorination at C2 does not have a chiral center - **Not chiral**
3. The product from chlorination at C3 has four different substituents (Cl, CH3, CH2, H) - **Chiral**
4. The product from chlorination at C4 does not have a chiral center - **Not chiral**

### Step 5: Count the total number of chiral compounds
From the analysis, we find that there are two chiral products formed from the monochlorination of 2-methylbutane.

### Final Answer
The total number of chiral compounds formed is **2**.

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