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
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