Brief Procedure for Naming Most Compounds

1. Find functional group and circle parent chain (longest continuous carbon chain that includes functional group).
   
2. Combine name for number of carbons with appropriate functional group ending. Do this by determining what the name would be for a hydrocarbon with the same number of carbons in the parent chain; then drop the final e from the hydrocarbon name and replace it with the functional group name. For example, CH₃CH₂OH is ethanol; this name is derived by dropping e from ethane (two carbons, no double or triple bonds in carbon chain) and replacing it with ol for alcohol.
   
3. Number chain from end closest to functional group to identify location of functional group. (not needed for alkanes, aldehydes, carboxylic acids and esters and other acid derivatives.
   
4. Any atoms left over are substituents; number chain as for functional group to identify point of attachment of substituent to parent chain. If the parent chain was already numbered for the functional group position, use these same numbers for the parent chain carbons. The substituent part of name goes at beginning.

Functional Group Endings

Special Cases

• Ethers - name each alkyl group attached to oxygen; add "ether" to end
  
• Amines - name each alkyl group attached to nitrogen; add "amine" to end
  
• Aromatics - name as substituted benzene
  
• Cyclic compounds other than aromatics - use cyclo prefix in front of parent chain name

Names For Number of Carbons

Substituent Names

• Alkyl groups (hydrocarbon groups)
  • add yl to name for number of carbons
    
  • thus, -CH₃ = methyl, -CH₂CH₃ = ethyl, -CH(CH₃)₂ = isopropyl, -C(CH₃)₃ = tert-butyl, etc.
• Benzene ring is phenyl when named as a substituent
  
• Halogens use same names as in inorganic naming: Cl-chloro, Br-bromo, I-iodo, F-fluoro
  
• Use di- , tri-, tetra- etc. as prefixes if substituent occurs more than once in compound