Question

How many stereoisomers are possible for CHBrClF provided that the central carbon has a square planar geometry?

Answer 1

There are three possible stereoisomers for a square planar `"CHBrClF"`.

Explanation:

They are

Start with `"H"` and `"Br"` cis to each other.

Then you can put `"F"` or `"Cl"` trans to the `"H"`. This gives you two of the isomers.

For the third isomer, put `"H"` and `"Br"` trans to each other.

There are no optical isomers for square planar `"CHBrClF"`, because any planar compound has a mirror plane in the plane of the paper, dividing the top half of each atom into a mirror image of its bottom half.