How would you name complex organic compounds?

How many carbons are in the longest carbon chain?

Prefixes: meth- (1), eth- (2), prop- (3), but- (4), pent- (5), hex- (6)

What functional groups are present?

[GCSE] Suffixes: -ene (C=C/alkene), -yne (C=-C/alkyne), -ol (R-OH/alcohol)

[AS] Suffixes: -anal (R-CHO/aldehyde), -oic acid (R-COOH/carboxylic acid), -one (R-C=O/ketone), -oyl chloride (R-COCl/acyl chloride)

[A2] Suffixes: -oate (R-COOR/ester), -amine (R-NH2/amine), -amide (R-CONH2/amide), -nitrile (R-C=-N/nitrile)

Steps:

Identify longest carbon chain and functional groups on this chain (A)

Identify carbon number on which sidechains are attached (B)

Name the sidechains (C)

Naming format: (B) (C) (A) separating two numbers with a comma & numbers and words with a dash; di- for 2 and tri- for 3 of the same sidechains

Example:

A: prefix is but- and suffix is -oic acid hence butanoic acid

B: carbons 1 and 3

C: methyl groups on carbon 1 and 3

Naming format: (B) (C) (A) hence 1,3-dimethyl butanoic acid

SJ
Answered by Sneha J. Chemistry tutor

5555 Views

See similar Chemistry A Level tutors

Related Chemistry A Level answers

All answers ▸

Why does nuclear radius decrease and first ionisation energy increase across the period?


A 1000 cm3 container of ammonia (NH3) has a mass of 20.7g, it is stored at room temperature (298 K). When empty the container has a mass of 20.0 g, calculate the pressure inside the container in kPa to an appropriate number of significant figures.


How does the mechanism for electrophilic addition work?


How do you know where the bonds link to form a new molecule?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning