Question

The total number of isomers in $[Be{{(gly)}_{2}}]$
A. 3
B. 2
C. 4
D. No isomers are possible

Answer 1

Isomerism is the phenomenon in which more than one compounds have the same chemical formula but different chemical structures. Chemical compounds that have identical chemical formulas but differ in properties and the arrangement of atoms in the molecule are called isomers.

Complete Solution :
The word isomer is derived from the Greek words named as iso and mer which mean equal parts. In the given compound $[Be{{(gly)}_{2}}]$, gly refers to glycine which is generally an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain and represented by the chemical formula $N{{H}_{2}}-C{{H}_{2}}-COOH$.
Isomers are shown by those compounds which are optically active in nature. A compound which is capable of optical rotation is said to be optically active. In the given compound asymmetric configuration is present due to absence of plane of symmetry hence it is termed as an optically active compound. The given compound is optically active where $Be$ shows beryllium atom showing electronic configuration as $Be-1{{s}^{2}}2{{s}^{2}}$but due to presence of two glycine compounds it shows +2 oxidation state and show configuration as $Be-1{{s}^{2}}2{{s}^{1}}2{{p}^{3}}$ and show $s{{p}^{3}}$ hybridization which further show isomers and total number of isomers shown by this compound is 2.
So, the correct answer is “Option B”.

Note: Plane of symmetry can be explained as an imaginary plane that bisects a molecule into two halves which are mirror images to each other. If there is a plane of symmetry in any compound then it is optically inactive in nature and does not show isomers.