IUPAC Nomenclature
Every scientist must follow a set of regulations under the IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry in order to name compounds that belong to specific groups for better communication of information. In IUPAC Nomenclature, there are three key components: Root word, Suffix and Prefix. With the help of these three components and rules from IUPAC, we can name any organic compound under the blue sky with ease. Let’s learn about these components of Nomenclature in detail.
Root Word
The number of carbon atoms in the major chain i.e., the longest conceivable chain of carbon atoms, is indicated by the root word. Greek number roots are used for chains of five or more carbon atoms, whereas specific word roots (based on the common names of alkanes) are used for chains of one to four carbon atoms. For instance, the terms “meth” and “non” denote one-carbon atom chain and nine-carbon atoms, respectively, in an organic compound. The following table shows the first twenty root words for the carbon chain.
Carbon in Chain |
Root Word |
Carbon in Chain |
Root Word |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
Meth- |
11 |
Undec- |
2 |
Eth- |
12 |
Dodec- |
3 |
Prop- |
13 |
Tridec- |
4 |
But- |
14 |
Tetradec- |
5 |
Pent- |
15 |
Pentadec- |
6 |
Hex- |
16 |
Hexadec- |
7 |
Hept- |
17 |
Heptadec- |
8 |
Oct- |
18 |
Octadec- |
9 |
Non- |
19 |
Nonadec- |
10 |
Dec- |
20 |
Icos- |
IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Compounds
Organic Compounds are those which have Carbon-Hydrogen or Carbon-Carbon bonds. Chemistry is studied under three branches Organic, Inorganic, and Physical Chemistry with each dealing with different types of topics. For this article, we will focus on Organic Chemistry which is the study of carbon and its various compounds. Carbon compounds have a special catenation property that helps them to make long-chain organic compounds. Thus, there are millions of organic compounds, and naming all of them is tough so we came up with a method of naming these organic compounds which are called as Nomenclature of Organic Compound. Nomenclature of Organic Compound is the common set of rules which helps us name all the organic compounds without remembering the name for any of them, we just have to remember the rules. Let’s learn about these rules for naming organic compounds i.e., nomenclature, in detail.
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