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Q: Why is 3,6-dimethylpiperazine-2,5-dione optically active in spite of having a centre of symmetry?
I learnt in my chemistry class that if a molecule has an element of symmetry (either a plane of symmetry or a centre of symmetry), it will not be chiral and hence will not show optical activity. My professor told me that in alanine anhydride the carbon atoms with methyl groups would be non-plana...