Question

RNA and DNA are chiral molecules, their chirality is due to:

• A. D-sugar Component
• B. Chiral bases
• C. Chiral phosphate ester units
• D. L-sugar component

Answer 1

The correct option is A

D-sugar Component

The correct option is A

Explanation of the correct option:

1. Chirality is used to describe a molecule whose enantiomers are non-superimposable on their mirror images.
2. In the case of RNA, ribose sugar is present in the structure, and in the case of DNA, deoxyribose sugar is present.
3. The sugars are present in D-isomer form.
4. The carbon molecules in the sugar structure possess different functional groups and those are chiral carbons.
5. They show chirality.

Explanation of the incorrect option:

Option B:

1. The chirality of DNA and RNA molecules is not due to chiral bases.
2. They have chiral carbons in their sugar structure.

Option C:

1. Phosphate ester units are not responsible for chirality.
2. The molecules show chirality due to having chiral carbon in the sugar structure.

Option D:

The sugar molecules in DNA and RNA are D-isomers, not L-isomers.

Final answer: RNA and DNA are chiral molecules, their chirality is due to the D-sugar component.