Book says threonine has chiral center in its sidechain? How?

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SUMMARY

Threonine and isoleucine possess a chiral center in their sidechains, specifically at the carbon adjacent to the alpha carbon. This carbon is bonded to four distinct substituents: an oxygen atom, a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, and the alpha carbon itself. The distinction between substituents is crucial for determining chirality; in this case, the methyl group and the alpha carbon are considered different substituents, confirming the chirality of threonine's sidechain. Understanding the definition of chirality is essential for accurate biochemical analysis.

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Text says that threonine and isoleucine have a chiral carbon in sidechain. I am not seeing it.

The carbon in the sidechain that is next to the alpha carbon is attached to an oxygen, a hydrogen, a carbon (a methyl group) and the alpha carbon. So that means its attached to two carbons, so therefore it doesn't have 4 different substituents attached so therefore its not chiral.
Its probably something to do with me not grasping definition of chiral I am geussing, ..
do you consider the atoms attached or is it the substituents that must be different for chirality? For example, would CH and a CH2 be considered two different substits?
thanks
 
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The substituents must be different, so the methyl group and alpha carbon count as two different substituents.
 

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