Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Compounds

Introduction
The purpose of the IUPAC system of nomenclature is to establish an international standard of
naming compounds to facilitate communication. The goal of the system is to give each structure
a unique and unambiguous name, and to correlate each name with a unique and unambiguous
structure.

I. Fundamental Principle
IUPAC nomenclature is based on naming a molecule’s longest chain of carbons connected by
single bonds, whether in a continuous chain or in a ring. All deviations, either multiple bonds or
atoms other than carbon and hydrogen, are indicated by prefixes or suffixes according to a
specific set of priorities.

II. Alkanes and Cycloalkanes

Alkanes are the family of saturated hydrocarbons, that is, molecules containing carbon and
hydrogen connected by single bonds only. These molecules can be in continuous chains (called
linear or acyclic), or in rings (called cyclic or alicyclic). The names of alkanes and cycloalkanes
are the root names of organic compounds. Beginning with the five-carbon alkane, the number of
carbons in the chain is indicated by the Greek or Latin prefix. Rings are designated by the prefix
“cyclo”. (In the geometrical symbols for rings, each apex represents a carbon with the number of
hydrogens required to fill its valence.)

CH4 methane CH3[CH2]10CH3 dodecane

CH3CH3 ethane CH3[CH2]11CH3 tridecane
CH3CH2CH3 propane CH3[CH2]12CH3 tetradecane
CH3[CH2]2CH3 butane CH3[CH2]18CH3 icosane
CH3[CH2]3CH3 pentane CH3[CH2]19CH3 henicosane
CH3[CH2]4CH3 hexane CH3[CH2]20CH3 docosane
CH3[CH2]5CH3 heptane CH3[CH2]21CH3 tricosane
CH3[CH2]6CH3 octane CH3[CH2]28CH3 triacontane
CH3[CH2]7CH3 nonane CH3[CH2]29CH3 hentriacontane
CH3[CH2]8CH3 decane CH3[CH2]38CH3 tetracontane
CH3[CH2]9CH3 undecane CH3[CH2]48CH3 pentacontane

H H
C
H H
C C
cyclopropane H H cyclobutane cyclopentane

cyclohexane cycloheptane cyclooctane

Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature, p. 2

III. Nomenclature of Molecules Containing Substituents and Functional Groups

A. Priorities of Substituents and Functional Groups

LISTED HERE FROM HIGHEST TO LOWEST PRIORITY, except that the substituents within
Group C have equivalent priority.

Group A—Functional Groups Indicated By Prefix Or Suffix

Family of Compound Structure Prefix Suffix
O
Carboxylic Acid R C OH carboxy- -oic acid
O (-carboxylic acid)

Aldehyde R C H oxo- -al

O (formyl) (carbaldehyde)

Ketone R C R oxo- -one

Alcohol R O H hydroxy- -ol

Amine R N amino- -amine

Group B—Functional Groups Indicated By Suffix Only

Family of Compound Structure Prefix Suffix

Alkene C C -------- -ene

Alkyne C C -------- -yne

Group C—Substituents Indicated by Prefix Only

Substituent Structure Prefix Suffix

Alkyl (see list below) R— alkyl- ----------

Alkoxy R— O — alkoxy- ----------

Halogen F— fluoro- ----------

Cl — chloro- ----------
Br — bromo- ----------
I— iodo- ----------

Group C continued on next page

Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature, p. 3

Group C—Substituents, continued

Miscellaneous substituents and their prefixes

NO2 CH CH2 CH2CH CH2

nitro vinyl allyl
phenyl

Common alkyl groups—replace “ane” ending of alkane name with “yl”. Alternate names for
complex substituents are given in brackets.

CH3 CH3 CH3

methyl CH CH
CH3 CH2CH3
CH2CH3 isopropyl sec-butyl
ethyl [1-methylethyl] [1-methylpropyl]

CH3 CH3
CH2CH2CH3 CH2 CH C CH3
propyl (n-propyl)
CH3 CH3
isobutyl tert-butyl or t-butyl
[2-methylpropyl] [1,1-dimethylethyl]
CH2CH2CH2CH3
butyl (n-butyl)

B. Naming Substituted Alkanes and Cycloalkanes—Group C Substituents Only

1. Organic compounds containing substituents from Group C are named following this sequence
of steps, as indicated on the examples below:
•Step 1. Find the longest continuous carbon chain. Determine the root name for this
parent chain. In cyclic compounds, the ring is usually considered the parent chain, unless it is
attached to a longer chain of carbons; indicate a ring with the prefix “cyclo” before the root
name. (When there are two longest chains of equal length, use the chain with the greater number
of substituents.)
•Step 2. Number the chain in the direction such that the position number of the first
substituent is the smaller number. If the first substituents from either end have the same number,
then number so that the second substituent has the smaller number, etc.
•Step 3. Determine the name and position number of each substituent. (A substituent on
a nitrogen is designated with an “N” instead of a number; see Section III.D.1. below.)
•Step 4. Indicate the number of identical groups by the prefixes di, tri, tetra, etc.
•Step 5. Place the position numbers and names of the substituent groups, in alphabetical
order, before the root name. In alphabetizing, ignore prefixes like sec-, tert-, di, tri, etc., but
include iso and cyclo. Always include a position number for each substituent, regardless of
redundancies.
Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature, p. 4

Examples
6 7 8 5 6 7

1 2 3
CH3 CH2CH2CH3 CH2CH2CH3
1
CH3 CH CH C CH CH2CH3 CH3 CH CH CH
4 5 4 3 2 CHCH3

Cl Br CH3 CH3 F CH3

3-bromo-2-chloro-5-ethyl-4,4-dimethyloctane 3-fluoro-4-isopropyl-2-methylheptane

H3C CHCH2CH3
1 1-sec-butyl-3-nitrocyclohexane
6 2
(numbering determined by the
alphabetical order of substituents)
5 3 NO2
4

C. Naming Molecules Containing Functional Groups from Group B—Suffix Only

1. Alkenes—Follow the same steps as for alkanes, except:

a. Number the chain of carbons that includes the C=C so that the C =C has the lower
position number, since it has a higher priority than any substituents;
b. Change “ane” to “ene” and assign a position number to the first carbon of the C =C;
c. Designate geometrical isomers with a cis,trans or E,Z prefix.
F CH3
F
5
CH CH CH CH2 C C CH CH2
1 4
F CH3 F CH3
4,4-difluoro-3-methylbut-1-ene 1,1-difluoro-2-methyl- 2 3
buta-1,3-diene 5-methylcyclopenta-
1,3-diene
Special case: When the chain cannot include the C=C, a substituent name is used.

CH CH2 3-vinylcyclohex-1-ene

2. Alkynes—Follow the same steps as for alkanes, except:

a. Number the chain of carbons that includes the CtC so that the functional group has the
lower position number;
b. Change “ane” to “yne” and assign a position number to the first carbon of the CtC.

Note: The Group B functional groups (alkene and alkyne) are considered to have equal priority:
in a molecule with both a double and a triple bond, whichever is closer to the end of the chain
determines the direction of numbering. In the case where each would have the same position
number, the double bond takes the lower number. In the name, “ene” comes before “yne”
because of alphabetization. See examples on next page.
Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature, p. 5

F H
1 2 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1
CH CH C CH HC C C CHCH3 HC C CH2 CH CH2
F pent-3-en-1-yne pent-1-en-4-yne
CH3
("yne" closer to end ("ene" and "yne" have equal
4,4-difluoro-3-methylbut-1-yne of chain) priority unless they have the
same position number, when
"ene" takes the lower number)

(Notes: 1. An “e” is dropped if the letter following it is a vowel: “pent-3-en-1-yne” , not “3-
pent-3-ene-1-yne”. 2. An “a” is added if inclusion of di, tri, etc., would put two consonants
consecutively: “buta-1,3-diene”, not “but-1,3-diene”.)

D. Naming Molecules Containing Functional Groups from Group A—Prefix or Suffix

In naming molecules containing one or more of the functional groups in Group A, the group of
highest priority is indicated by suffix; the others are indicated by prefix, with priority equivalent
to any other substituents. The table in Section III.A. defines the priorities; they are discussed
below in order of increasing priority.

Now that the functional groups and substituents from Groups A, B, and C have been described, a
modified set of steps for naming organic compounds can be applied to all simple structures:
•Step 1. Find the highest priority functional group. Determine and name the longest
continuous carbon chain that includes this group.
•Step 2. Number the chain so that the highest priority functional group is assigned the
lower number.
•Step 3. If the carbon chain includes multiple bonds (Group B), replace “ane” with “ene”
for an alkene or “yne” for an alkyne. Designate the position of the multiple bond with the
number of the first carbon of the multiple bond.
•Step 4. If the molecule includes Group A functional groups, replace the last “e” with the
suffix of the highest priority functional group, and include its position number.
•Step 5. Indicate all Group C substituents, and Group A functional groups of lower
priority, with a prefix. Place the prefixes, with appropriate position numbers, in alphabetical
order before the root name.

1. Amines: prefix: amino-; suffix: -amine—substituents on nitrogen denoted by “N”

CH3O NH2 CH3CH2 CH2CH3

N

CH3CH2CH2 NH2 CH2 CH CHCH3

propan-1-amine 3-methoxycyclohexan-1-amine N,N-diethylbut-3-en-2-amine
("1" is optional in this case)
Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature, p. 6

2. Alcohols: prefix: hydroxy-; suffix: -ol

OH
OH

CH3CH2 OH H3C CH CH CH2

ethanol but-3-en-2-ol NH2
2-aminocyclobutan-1-ol
("1" is optional in this case)
3. Ketones: prefix: oxo-; suffix: -one
O H3C CH3
O O N

CH3 CH C CH3 CH3 C CH2 C CH2

OH 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pent-4-en-2-one
3-hydroxybutan-2-one cyclohex-3-en-1-one
("1" is optional in this case)

4. Aldehydes: prefix: oxo-, or formyl- (O=CH-); suffix: -al (abbreviation: —CHO).

An aldehyde can only be on carbon 1, so the “1” is generally omitted from the name.

O O OH O O O
HCH CH3 CH CH2 CH CH CH CH3CCH2CH2 CH
methanal; ethanal; 4-hydroxybut-2-enal 4-oxopentanal
formaldehyde acetaldehyde
Special case: When the chain cannot include the carbon of the CHO, the suffix “carbaldehyde”
is used:
O

CH cyclohexanecarbaldehyde

5. Carboxylic Acids: prefix: carboxy-; suffix: -oic acid (abbreviation: —COOH).

A carboxylic acid can only be on carbon 1, so the “1” is generally omitted from the name.

O O O O O CH3

HC OH CH3C OH CH2 CH COH HC C C COOH

methanoic acid; ethanoic acid;
formic acid acetic acid NH2 CH3
2-amino-3-phenylpropanoic acid 2,2-dimethyl-3,4-
dioxobutanoic acid
(Note: Chemists traditionally use, and IUPAC accepts, the names “formic acid” and “acetic
acid” in place of “methanoic acid” and “ethanoic acid”.)

Special case: When the chain numbering cannot include the carbon of the COOH, the suffix
“carboxylic acid” is used. See example on next page.
Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature, p. 7

CHO
3 2 2-formyl-4-oxocyclohexanecarboxylic acid
1 ("formyl" is used to indicate an aldehyde as
O COOH a substituent when its carbon cannot be in
4 the chain numbering)

E. Naming Carboxylic Acid Derivatives

The six common groups derived from carboxylic acids are salts, anhydrides, esters, acyl halides,
amides, and nitriles. Salts and esters are most important.

1. Salts of Carboxylic Acids

Salts are named with cation first, followed by the anion name of the carboxylic acid, where “ic
acid” is replaced by “ate” :

acetic acid becomes acetate

butanoic acid becomes butanoate
cyclohexanecarboxylic acid becomes cyclohexanecarboxylate

2. Esters
Esters are named as “organic salts” that is, the alkyl name comes first, followed by the name of
the carboxylate anion. (common abbreviation: —COOR)

carboxylate alkyl

O O CH3 O CH3

R C O R H3C C O CH2CH3 H3C C C O CHCH3

"alkanoate" "alkyl" ethyl acetate
CH3
"alkyl alkanoate" isopropyl 2,2-dimethylpropanoate
O

CH2 CH C O CH CH2 O CH2COO

vinyl prop-2-enoate
HO C OCH3 cyclohexyl 2-phenylacetate

methyl 3-hydroxycyclopentanecarboxylate

IV. Nomenclature of Aromatic Compounds

“Aromatic” compounds are those derived from benzene and similar ring systems. As with
aliphatic nomenclature described above, the process is: determining the root name of the parent
ring; determining priority, name, and position number of substituents; and assembling the name
in alphabetical order. Functional group priorities are the same in aliphatic and aromatic
nomenclature.
Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature, p. 8

A. Common Parent Ring Systems

8 1 8 9 1
7 2 7 2
or
6 3 6 3
5 4 5 10 4
benzene
naphthalene anthracene

B. Monosubstituted Benzenes
1. Most substituents keep their designation, followed by the word “benzene”:
Cl NO2 CH2CH3

chlorobenzene nitrobenzene ethylbenzene

2. Some common substituents change the root name of the ring. IUPAC accepts these as root
names, listed here in decreasing priority:

COOH SO3H CHO OH NH2 OCH3 CH3

benzoic benzene- benzaldehyde phenol aniline anisole toluene

acid sulfonic acid

C. Disubstituted Benzenes
1. Designation of substitution—only three possibilities:
X X X
Y

Y
Y
common: ortho- meta- para-
IUPAC: 1,2- 1,3- 1,4-

2. Naming disubstituted benzenes—Priorities determine root name and substituents

Br COOH
HO

NH2 OCH3
Br 3-aminobenzoic acid CHO CH3
1,4-dibromobenzene 2-methoxybenzaldehyde 3-methylphenol
Short Summary of IUPAC Nomenclature, p. 9

D. Polysubstituted Benzenes
CH3 COOCH2CH3
Cl O2N NO2

HN Cl OH
CH3 NO2 NH2
3,4-dichloro-N-methylaniline 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene ethyl 4-amino-3-hydroxybenzoate
(TNT)
E. Aromatic Ketones
A special group of aromatic compounds are ketones where the carbonyl is attached to at least one
benzene ring. Such compounds are named as “phenones”, the prefix depending on the size and
nature of the group on the other side of the carbonyl. These are the common examples:
O O
C CH3 C CH2CH3

acetophenone propiophenone

O O
C CH2CH2CH3 C

butyrophenone benzophenone

Courtesy of Dr. Jan Simek, California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo