Question

Question: Do all triacylglycerols have the same number of asymmetric centers?

Short answer

Different kinds of triacylglycerols have different number of asymmetric centers.

Step-by-step solution

Introduction

Triacylglycerols are also known as triglycerides, are the simplest lipids which are made up of fatty acids . Three fatty acids esters linked to a single glycerol molecule constitute triacylglycerols. Triacylglycerols are non-polar, hydrophobic and insoluble in water. This is due to the ester linked bond between the polar hydroxyls of glycerol and the polar carboxylates of the fatty acids. Examples- vegetable oils, dairy products and animal fats.

Explanation

All triglycerol have varying number of asymmetric centers depending upon the kind of fatty acid chain part of triacylglycerols. For example if the fatty acids part of the the triacylglycerol is-

There are three asymmetric centres in it and in triacylglycerol already three such fatty acid chains are present in case of simple triglycerides, so 9 asymmetric centers from fatty acids will be there in the molecule.