Answered by AI, Verified by Human Experts
In this case, there are 2 diastereomers of the molecule shown.The answer is option~c) 2The molecule shown can be represented as:COOH - C(HOH)₃ - CH₂OHTo determine the number of diastereomers of this molecule, we need to identify the chiral centers in the molecule. Chiral centers are carbon atoms bonded to four different groups. In this molecule, the second carbon atom (C) is a chiral center because it is bonded to COOH, HOH, H, and OH groups.Now, let's calculate the number of possible diastereomers using the formula:Number of diastereomers = 2ⁿ, where n is the number of chiral centers.In this case, there is only one chiral center, so the number of diastereomers = 2¹ = 2.Therefore, there are 2 diastereomers of the molecule shown.The answer is option~c) 2...