Which one of the following statements is correct ?[AIEEE-2012]a)All am...
The simplest member of this group is glycine, where the saturated carbon atom is unsubstituted, rendering it optically inactive. The rest of the 20 most common amino acids are optically active existing as both D and L stereoisomer.
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Which one of the following statements is correct ?[AIEEE-2012]a)All am...
Explanation:
Optical Activity:
Optical activity is the ability of a substance to rotate the plane of polarized light. It is a property exhibited by certain compounds that contain a chiral center, which is an atom that is bonded to four different groups. Amino acids are a type of compound that can exhibit optical activity.
Amino Acids:
Amino acids are organic compounds that are the building blocks of proteins. There are 20 different amino acids that are commonly found in proteins. Each amino acid has an amino group (-NH2), a carboxyl group (-COOH), and a unique side chain (R-group).
Chirality of Amino Acids:
Chirality refers to the property of having a non-superimposable mirror image. In other words, a chiral molecule is one that cannot be superimposed onto its mirror image. Chirality is an important concept in chemistry because chiral molecules often have different physical and chemical properties.
Optical Activity of Amino Acids:
Due to the presence of a chiral center in amino acids, they can exist in two different forms known as enantiomers. Enantiomers are mirror images of each other that cannot be superimposed. These enantiomers are designated as L- and D- forms based on the arrangement of groups around the chiral center.
Glycine:
Glycine is the simplest amino acid that does not possess a chiral center. It has a hydrogen atom as its R-group, which means that it is achiral and does not exhibit optical activity.
Other Amino Acids:
All other amino acids, except glycine, possess a chiral center and therefore exist as a mixture of L- and D- enantiomers. This means that they are optically active and can rotate the plane of polarized light.
Conclusion:
Based on the given options, the correct statement is that all amino acids except glycine are optically active. Glycine is the only amino acid that does not possess a chiral center and therefore does not exhibit optical activity.
Which one of the following statements is correct ?[AIEEE-2012]a)All am...
B