Download Organic Chemistry IUPAC Nomenclature and more Schemes and Mind Maps Organic Chemistry in PDF only on Docsity!
Chemistry 1110 – Organic Chemistry
IUPAC Nomenclature
Of the approximately 3 2 million unique chemical compounds presently known, over 95% of them can
be classified as organic; i.e., containing carbon. The IUPAC system of nomenclature was established at
the end of the 19
th
century in order for chemists to have a common method of naming compounds. Most
introductory chemistry courses have a small section on simple organic molecules and naming is usually
restricted to hydrocarbons. This summary contains an introduction to the recognition and naming of the
various functional classes organic compounds, as well as the relationship between compounds that have
the same molecular formula ( isomers ) that you will be exposed to in CHEM 1110. We hope that you
will find it a useful supplement to the material in your textbook. Your particular instructor will also
provide you with additional information and problem-solving techniques involving organic molecules.
The following table contains a listing of the names and structures of the first 10 members of the alkane
family of hydrocarbons.
Homologous Series of Alkanes
decane
nonane
octane
heptane hexane
pentane
butane
propane
CH
3
CH
3
CH ethane
4
CH
3
(CH
2
8
CH
3
CH
3
(CH
2
7
CH
3
CH
3
(CH
2
6
CH
3
CH
3
(CH
2
5
CH
3
CH
3
(CH
2
4
CH
3
CH
3
(CH
2
3
CH
3
CH
3
CH
2
CH
2
CH
3
CH
3
CH
2
CH
3
methane
You may initially find the above convention for drawing organic compounds confusing, but it saves time
and you will soon become more comfortable using it. Your classroom instructor will also show you
other methods to represent the structures of organic compounds.
It is very important at this time to stress that since carbon must always have four covalent bonds in a
neutral compound, the number of hydrogen atoms present at any carbon atom may simply be obtained
by subtracting the number of bonds from four. Using this method, for the molecule 2, 2 ,4-
trimethylpentane (shown below), carbon a is connected to three hydrogen atoms, carbon b is connected
to two hydrogen atoms, carbon c is connected to one hydrogen atom and carbon d is connected to no
hydrogen atoms.
2 , 2 , 4 - trimethylpentane
a
b
c
d
Carbon a is classified as being primary as it is attached to only one other carbon atom, and the
hydrogen atoms bonded to carbon a are known as primary hydrogen atoms. Extending this concept leads
to the designation of secondary for carbon b, tertiary for carbon c and quaternary for carbon d. You
should be able to quickly determine that the compound above contains fifteen primary hydrogen atoms,
two secondary hydrogen atoms and one tertiary hydrogen atom.
The next page contains examples of compounds containing the thirteen common functional groups that
you will be responsible for knowing in CHEM 1110. The page after that contains the priority listing of
all the prefixes and suffixes to be used for naming organic molecules containing these functional groups.
Functional Group Priorities & Prefixes/Suffixes
GROUP ONE
Functional Group Prefix Suffix
carboxylic acid oic acid
ester oate
amide amide
GROUP TWO
Functional Group Prefix Suffix
aldehyde oxo al
ketone oxo one
alcohol hydroxy ol
amine amino amine
alkene enyl ene
alkyne ynyl yne
SUBORDINATE GROUPS
Functional Group Prefix Suffix
alkyl halide halo
ether oxy ether
alkyl benzene phenyl benzene
alkane yl ane
Principal functional groups are listed in decreasing priority.
Subordinate functional groups have no established priority.
The functional group at the top of the list ( carboxylic acid ) has the highest priority for naming, while
the functional group at the bottom of the list ( alkane ) has the lowest priority for naming. A compound
that contains several functional groups can be named by finding the functional group with the highest
priority and completing the name with the appropriate suffix. The presence of the other functional
groups can be indicated by using the appropriate prefixes.
If your instructor brings molecular models to class, you may get to work in small groups to build organic
molecules using the same molecular formula, draw the structures, and then provide the corresponding
IUPAC names. This process can be illustrated on the next page by considering four isomeric
compounds (A, B, C and D), all having the same molecular formula C 5
H
9
BrO 2
Br
O
OH
O
OH
Br
OH
Br
O
A
B
C
D
O
Br
HO
Compound A has a carboxylic acid as part of a longest chain of four carbon atoms with a Br atom
connected to carbon number 2 and a methyl group connected to carbon number 3. The complete IUPAC
name for the compound would be:
2 - bromo- 3 - methylbutanoic acid
Compound B has an alcohol and a ketone in addition to the Br atom. According to the priority listing
of functional groups, the ketone is more important than the alcohol. Using the same procedure as above,
the complete IUPAC name for the compound would be:
3 - bromo- 4 - hydroxy- 2 - pentanone
Compound C has an alcohol , an ether and a ring in addition to the Br atom. The alcohol group has the
highest priority, and therefore must receive the lowest number. Using the same procedure as above, the
complete IUPAC name for the compound would be:
3 - bromo- 2 - methoxy- 1 - cyclobutanol
Compound D has an alcohol , an alkene and an ether in addition to the Br atom. The alcohol group has
the highest priority, and therefore must receive the lowest number when deciding where to begin naming
the compound. The complete IUPAC name for the compound would be:
3 - bromo- 1 - methoxy- 3 - butene- 2 - ol
At this point you may wonder why compound D was not named 3 - bromo- 1 - methoxy- 3 - enyl- 2 -
butanol? The prefix enyl is used in cases where the alkene functional group is not part of the longest
chain containing the functional group of highest priority. This can be illustrated by considering the
following isomeric compounds X and Y.
HO
HO
X Y
The complete IUPAC name for compound X will be: 2 - (3-butenyl)- 1 - cyclopentanol while the complete
IUPAC name for compound X will be: 1 - cyclopentyl- 3 - butene- 1 - ol
classification schemes to be found in the various textbooks on the market (including Petrucci et al);
however, the scheme described below is based upon asking yourself a series of questions when
presented with structural representations of several compounds that have the same molecular formula.
ISOMERS
Constitutional (Structural) Stereoisomers
Isomers
The first question is: Based upon your understanding of the rules for IUPAC naming to
this point, do the two compounds appear to have the same IUPAC name?
If the answer is YES, then the compounds are stereoisomers of each other. If the answer is NO, then
the compounds are constitutional isomers of each other. The term structural isomers was originally
used to describe these compounds, but was replaced several years ago.
The following compounds can be used to illustrate these types of isomers.
The name of compound I is 3-hexanol, the name of compound J is 2-methyl- 3 - pentanol. These
compounds are constitutional isomers of each other since they have different IUPAC names. Since
compounds K and L both have the same name; i.e., 1,3-dichlorocyclohexane, they must be
stereoisomers of each other since they differ only in the way that the two Cl atoms are connected to the
cyclohexane ring. Stereoisomers will be examined in greater detail later in this summary.
If we now consider constitutional isomers in greater detail, you find that there are three possible ways
that isomers may have different names. You will now have to ask, exactly how are the two compounds
different?
K L
J
I
Cl
Cl
Cl
Cl
OH
OH
Constitutional (Structural)
Isomers
Skeletal
Isomers
Positional
Isomers
Functional
Isomers
The next question is: Do the two constitutional isomers contain different functional groups?
If the answer is YES, then the compounds are functional isomers of each other. If the answer is NO,
then you must ask another question.
The next question is: Do the two constitutional isomers (which contain the same functional
group) contain the same number of carbon atoms in the longest chain?
If the answer is YES, then the two constitutional isomers are positional isomers of each other. If the
answer is NO, then the two constitutional isomers are skeletal isomers of each other.
We can illustrate the three terms by providing additional constitutional isomers to consider.
Compound I ( 3 - hexanol ) and compound J ( 2 - methyl- 3 - pentanol ) are skeletal isomers of each other as
the longest chain containing the alcohol functional group is different for the two molecules. Compound
J and compound M ( 2 - methyl- 2 - pentanol ) are positional isomers as the position of the OH group has
changed, but the length of the longest chain containing the functional group is the same. Compound N
( 2 - ethoxybutane ) is a functional isomer of the other three constitutional isomers I, J and M.
You should now be ready to move on to the concept of degrees (units) of unsaturation and see how it
applies to the above discussion of isomeric structures. It is important to realize that a molecule
J
I
OH
OH
HO
N
M
O
We can repeat the above process for a consideration of skeletal isomers using some of the compounds
from above.
Br OH
H
3
C OH
Br
P
Q
Br
OH
S
HO
Br
U
Compound P and compound S are saturated skeletal isomers of each other, while compound Q and
compound U are unsaturated skeletal isomers of each other. There are obviously many more possible
compounds for the same formula C 6
H
11
BrO.
We will now return for a more detailed discussion of stereoisomers. Most students (with a little
practice) easily comprehend the relationship between constitutional isomers; i.e., compounds which
have different IUPAC names. Many students; however, have much greater difficulty with two
molecules that initially appear to have the same IUPAC name. Compounds that fall into this category
have the same connectivity of all the atoms, but they differ in the way in which the atoms are arranged
in space. A stereochemical prefix must precede the IUPAC name to indicate the exact location (in three-
dimensional space) of all the atoms. These compounds are classified as stereoisomers of each other and
can be broadly classified as to whether they are chiral or achiral ; i.e., containing an internal plane of
symmetry or not. A chiral molecule can be either right or left-handed; however, a detailed discussion of
this aspect of stereochemistry will not be presented in this summary.
Asking questions will again form part of the analysis. We can consider the structures of two isomeric
compounds; i.e., compounds having the same molecular formula, and ask the question:
Do these compounds appear to have the same IUPAC name?
If the answer is YES, then the two compounds are stereoisomers of each other. If the answer is NO,
then the two compounds are constitutional isomers of each other.
We will now consider the situation where the two compounds initially appear to have the same IUPAC
name and see how to determine the exact relationship between the two stereoisomers.
The new question is: Can the structures be inter-converted by simple bond rotation?
If the answer is YES, then the two compounds are conformational isomers of each other. You will
learn more about this particular class of isomers if you continue on to take CHEM 2320.
If the answer to the above question is NO, then the two compounds are configurational isomers of each
other. The compounds are also often referred to as geometric isomers of each other. The only way that
the structures can be inter-converted is by breaking covalent bonds; the isomerism is a result of
restricted rotation. One example is shown below for the compound 2 - pentene.
C C
CH
2
CH
3
H
CH
3
H
C C
H
CH
2
CH
3
CH
3
H
E
F
Both compounds have four groups attached to the carbon atoms of the alkene portion of the molecule.
In compound E, the two hydrogen atoms are located on the same side of the molecule, while in
compound F the two hydrogen atoms are located on opposite sides of the molecule. The prefix cis is
used for identical groups that are on the same side, while the prefix trans is used for groups that are on
opposite sides. The complete IUPAC name for compound E is cis- 2 - pentene , while trans- 2 - pentene is
the IUPAC name for compound F.
Geometric isomers are also possible for cyclic compounds. These can be drawn in several ways; two of
them are shown below for cis- 2 - methyl- 1 - cyclopentanol and trans- 2 - methyl- 1 - cyclopentanol.
HO
H
H
CH
3
H
OH
H
CH
3
cis trans
CH
3
OH
CH
3
OH
cis trans
It is important to remember that the prefixes cis and trans must always refer to identical groups (H atoms
in the examples above). If the molecule does not contain two identical groups, a different set of prefixes
must be used. You will learn more about this aspect of stereochemistry if you continue on to take
CHEM 2320.
