While virtually all naturally occurring biologically relevant -amino acids are fundamentally optical — Biomolecules Chemistry Question
Question
While virtually all naturally occurring biologically relevant $\alpha$ -amino acids are fundamentally optically active, which single specific native amino acid is strictly achiral due to the lack of an asymmetric $\alpha$ -carbon?
Answer: D
💡 Solution & Explanation
Glycine ($H_2N-CH_2-COOH$) is the absolute simplest $\alpha$ -amino acid. Because its $\alpha$ -carbon is bound sequentially to two identical, indistinguishable hydrogen atoms, it completely lacks a stereocenter and cannot exhibit optical isomerism.
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