Nomenclature of Carbon Compounds


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Nomenclature of Carbon Compounds

Nomenclature of Carbon Compounds:

Organic compounds have generally two types of names. These are IUPAC names and common names. The IUPAC have been adopted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and are based on certain rules. The common names, also known as trivial names, have no system for naming. In general, the IUPAC names of organic compounds are based on the name of basic carbon chain modified by a prefix (phrase before) or suffix (phrase after) indicating the name (or nature) of the functional group.

Writing IUPAC Name of a Compound:

Following steps are used to write the name of an organic compound:

Step I: Count the number of carbon atoms in the given compound and write the root word for it. Root words upto 10 carbon atoms are tabulated below.

Chain length Root word Chain length Root word
C_1 Meth - C_7 Hepta -
C_2 Eth - C_8 Octa-
C_3 Prop - C_9 Nona -
C_4 Buta - C_1_0 Deca -
C_5 Penta - C_1_1 Undeca -
C_6 Hexa - C_1_2 Dodeca -

Step II: If the compound is saturated, add suffix ‘ane’ to the root word, but if it is unsaturated, add suffix ‘ene’ and ‘yne’ for double and triple bonds respectively. e.g. CH3CH2CH3 contains three C-atoms, so the root word is ‘prop’ and it contains only single bonds, thus, suffix used is ‘ane’. Hence, the name of this compound is propane. Similarly, the compound CH3CHCH2 is named as propene as here suffix ‘ene’ is used for double bond.

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Sample Questions
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Question : 1

Which of the following is the correct formula of Propane nitrile ?

Right Option : A
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Question : 2

_______________________________ is the formula of Butanoic acid.

Right Option : C
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Question : 3

Which of the following are correct :

(a)  CH_3CH_2CH_2COOH is the formula of Butanoic acid.

(b) CH_2=CHCHO is the formula of Propenal.

(c) CH_3CH_2CN  is the formula of Propane nitrile.

Right Option : D
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