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(1) In case of paraldehyde I see 3 similar chiral carbons. So I divided it into 2 subcases

-two methyls above the plane and one below the plane

-all three above the plane so, that makes it 2. When I looked this up on Wikipedia I found this, enter image description here

can,(1) and (4) not be obtained by simply ring flipping, doesn't that make them conformers? Do I need to count them separately in my count of stereoisomers?

enter image description here

this according to me should have 4 stereosiomer(not including conformers) can someone confirm this answer? Are there any more im missing out? enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ Looking good! Shows you what Wikipedia is worth. Conformers of paraldehyde do not count as stereoisomers. $\endgroup$ – user55119 Jul 11 '20 at 14:51
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Your analysis for metaldehyde is correct. There are four achiral stereoisomers. The example cited here is a bit different. To understand the use of R, S, r and s, see this discussion on the inositols.

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