Question

IN A BRANCHED CHAIN WHY ARE THE COMPOUNDS NOT ATTACHED TO THE FIRST CARBON ATOM??

Answer 1

A compound is said to be a branched isomer if it contains a side-chain or a functional group attached to any of the carbon atoms except the terminal carbon atoms (that is the first and the last carbon atom). If functional group, or an alkyl group is attached to the first or last carbon atom, then the compound will be a straight chain isomer.

Thus, for a compound to be called a branched isomer, the substituent should be attached to the non-terminal carbon atoms, that is the carbon atoms present in between the first and the last carbon atom.