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Multiple Choice
How many possible stereoisomers AND epimers exist for the following aldopentose? Draw all of the possible epimers.
A
4
B
8
C
16
D
32
Verified step by step guidance
1
Identify the number of chiral centers in the aldopentose. Ribose has three chiral centers.
Use the formula for calculating the number of stereoisomers: 2^n, where n is the number of chiral centers. For ribose, n = 3, so the number of stereoisomers is 2^3.
Calculate the number of stereoisomers: 2^3 = 8. This means there are 8 possible stereoisomers for ribose.
Define an epimer: An epimer is a type of stereoisomer where the configuration differs at only one chiral center.
Draw all possible epimers by changing the configuration at each chiral center one at a time, while keeping the other two chiral centers the same. This will result in three different epimers for ribose.