Question

What is chiral carbon in organic chemistry?

Answer 1

An asymmetric carbon atom (chiral carbon) is a carbon atom that is attached to four different types of atoms or groups of atoms. Le Bel-van't Hoff rule states that the number of stereoisomers of an organic compound is 2n, where n represents the number of asymmetric carbon atoms (unless there is an internal plane of symmetry); a corollary of Le Bel and van't Hoff's simultaneously announced conclusions, in 1874, that the most probable orientation of the bonds of a carbon atom linked to four groups or atoms is toward the apexes of a tetrahedron, and that this accounted for all then-known phenomena of molecular asymmetry (which involved a carbon atom bearing four different atoms or groups).Knowing the number of asymmetric carbon atoms, one can calculate the maximum possible number of stereoisomers for any given molecule as follows:

If n is the number of asymmetric carbon atoms then the maximum number of isomers = 2n 

As an example, malic acid has 4 carbon atoms but just one of them is asymmetric. The asymmetric carbon atom is the one attached to two carbon atoms, an oxygen atom, and a hydrogen atom. 

Answer 2

A carbon atom whose all four valencies are satisfied by different atoms or different group of atoms is called a asymmetric or chiral carbon.

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