According to IUPAC nomenclature alcohols are named by replacing ‘e’ in the name of parent alkane by ‘ol’.
In this system following rules are followed:
- The longest continuous chain containing the carbon bonded to OH group is selected as the parent chain.
- The carbon atoms in the chain are numbered in such a way that the carbon atom carrying the hydroxyl group gets the lowest number. For example,
Serial No. | Name | Structural Formula |
1. | Ethan-1-ol | |
2. | Propan-1-ol | |
3. | Propan-2-ol | |
4. | Butan-1-ol | |
5. | Butan-2-ol | |
6. | Pentan-1-ol | |
7. | Pentan-2-ol | |
8. | Pentan-3-ol |
Test your understanding and answer these questions:
- Give nomenclature of alcohols.
- What are alkanols?