The aldohexose D-Glucose possesses exactly 4 internal chiral carbons () and its two structural termi — Isomerism and Stereochemistry Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

For completely unsymmetrical molecules, there is absolutely no possibility of internal symmetry collapsing mirror-image pairs into meso forms. Therefore, the total number of distinct stereoisomers is mathematically calculated using the simple $2^n$ exponent rule, where '$n$' is the number of stereogenic units. For glucose, $n=4$. Thus, $2^4 = 16$ total distinct stereoisomers exist.