Answer to Question #230418 in General Chemistry for Amin

Question

How to assign "r and s" configuration to pseudo asymmetric centers in cis 1,3-dimethylcyclobutane ?

Answer 1

If we name these two alkyl halides based on the IUPAC nomenclature rules, we get the name as 2-chlorobutanbe for both:

       

 

However, they don’t look exactly the same as the Cl atom points in different directions – wedge and dash. These molecules are not the same compound – they are non-superimposable mirror images which are known as enantiomers: