IUPAC- international organisation to standardise names.
• 3 Types of Hydrocarbons: Aliphatic- containing carbon atoms joined in straight chain, branched
chains or non- aromatic rings. Alicyclic- an aliphatic compound containing carbon atoms joining
together in a non- aromatic cyclic ring. Aromatic- containing benzene rings.
• Homologous Series of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons: Alkanes- CnH2n+2. Alkenes- the hydrocarbon
homologous series with one double carbon- to- carbon bonds, CnH2n. Alkynes- the hydrocarbon
homologous series with one triple carbon- to- carbon bonds and the general formula CnH2n-2.
• Stem: The longest continuous chain in the molecule. Meth, eth, prop, but. Non, dec. If there are
chains of the same length, the chain with the most branches considered the longest.
• Remember longest chain is not always straight one so don’t forget if there is a CH(2/3) group at the
start, end or middle- and use this to name. Find the longest chain.
• Alkyl Side Chains: Has a hydrogen removed from an alkane parent chain e.g. methane is CH4
whereas methyl is CH3. Name position and suffix –yl. Side chains ordered alphabetically.
• Functional Groups. Name position. Remove e of stem if suffix starts with vowel, –ol, but keep e if
consonant, diol. Any functional group has priority over alkyl group, apart from alcohol.
• Hydroxy- or –ol if alcohol.
• Chromo- bromo- or iodo- if haloalkane.
• –al if aldehyde (-CHO), double oxygen bond at the end. Do not need position number.
• –one if ketone (-C(CO)C-), double oxygen bond in the middle.
• Carboxylic acid (-COOH), double O and –OH.
• Naming Positions: Di-, tri- or tetra-. For example 2, 3 diol.
• Alkene have suffix –ene and lowest possible position of C=C bond named. Alicyclic have prefix
cyclo- .
• Need dashes with each number e.g. butan-1-ol or 2-methylpropane.
• In ketone, =O replaces hydrogen and another hydrogen missing opposite.
• But-2-en-1-ol. Here alkene has bond angle of 120 trigonal planar. Alkane parts have bond of
109.5 tetrahedral. OH parts has bond angle of 104.5 non- linear.
