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JEE Advanced 2019 Paper 2 · Chemistry · Hydrocarbons · hard

Methylcyclopentane undergoes free-radical monochlorination. The total number of distinct monochloro products obtained, counting every stereoisomer…

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Methylcyclopentane undergoes free-radical monochlorination. The total number of distinct monochloro products obtained, counting every stereoisomer (each enantiomer counted separately) as a different product, is ____.
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Answer: 10

Methylcyclopentane has four types of hydrogen: on the methyl group, on C1 (the tertiary ring carbon), on C2/C5 and on C3/C4. Chlorination at CH3\mathrm{CH_3} gives (chloromethyl)cyclopentane, with no stereocentre: 1 product. Chlorination at C1 gives 1-chloro-1-methylcyclopentane, which is achiral: 1 product. Chlorination at C2 gives 1-chloro-2-methylcyclopentane with two stereocentres and no symmetry: cis and trans, each chiral, so 22=42^2=4 stereoisomers. Chlorination at C3 gives 1-chloro-3-methylcyclopentane; since the two substituents differ there is no mirror plane in either the cis or trans isomer, giving 4 stereoisomers again. Total =1+1+4+4=10=1+1+4+4=10.
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