Question

Glucose molecule has four asymmetric carbons. Find the total number of optical isomers in glucose.

Hint:

Each asymmetric carbon doubles the number of possible optical isomers.

Answer 1

Step 1: The number of optical isomers is given by the formula: \[ 2^n \] where \(n\) is the number of asymmetric carbon atoms.
Step 2: For glucose, \(n = 4\).
Step 3: Therefore: \[ 2^4 = 16 \]