based on their structures. Hence, a set of rules was formulated by IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) for the nomenclature of chemical compounds. . .
Components of an IUPAC name The IUPAC name of the any organic compound consists of three parts: i. Root word ii. Prefix iii. Suffix These parts are combined as per the following sequence to get the IUPAC name of the compound: Prefix Root Word Suffix IUPAC Name (i) Root word: It is the basic unit, which describes the carbon skeleton.
It gives the number of carbon atoms present in the parent chain of the compound and the pattern of their arrangement. Based on the number of carbon atoms present in the carbon skeleton, most of the names are derived from Greek numerals (except the first four). Table . shows the root words for the parent chain of hydrocarbons containing 1to10 carbon atoms: Table .
Root words of hydrocarbons No. of carbon atoms Root word Meth- Eth- Prop- But- Pent- Hex- Hept- Oct- Non- Dec- (ii) Prefix: The prefix represents the substituents or branch present in the parent chain. Atoms or group of atoms, other than hydrogen, attached to carbon of the parent chain are called substituents. Table .
presents the major substituents of organic compounds and respective prefix used for them: Table . Prefix for IUPAC Name Substituent Prefix used -F Fluoro -Cl Chloro -Br Bromo -I Iodo -NH Amino -CH Methyl -CH CH Ethyl (iii) Suffix The suffix forms the end of the name. It is divided into two parts such as (a) Primary suffix and (b) Secondary suffix. The primary suffix comes after the root word.
It represents the nature in carbon to carbon bonding of the parent chain . If all the bonds between the carbon atoms of the parent chain are single, then suffix ‘ane’ has to be used. Suffix ‘ene’ and ‘yne’ are used for the compounds containing double Carbon and its Compounds and triple bonds respectively. The