Very Brief Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature

There is literally a whole book of rules for naming molecules. A good summary can be found here. The most important steps are:

Step 1: Identify the principal functional group. This will be the suffix of the name.
Step 2: Identify the parent carbon framework that the principal functional group is attached to. This will be the core root of the name.
Step 3: Determine the locations (locants) of all functional groups in the molecule. These will be prefixes in the name.
Step 4: Combine it all together into a name.

Common Scenarios

When doing the steps above, there are many "tie-breaking" scenarios:

Rings > Chains regardless of # of carbons
Locant #s are chosen to overall lower the #s.
The non-principal FG prefixes are listed in alphabetical order regardless of number.
Parentheses are used when a group itself has other groups attached.

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Determine the IUPAC Name

Practice your organic chemistry nomenclature skills. Filter by functional groups to do specific practice. Increase molecular weight for harder molecules.

What is the IUPAC name?

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Functional Groups Allowed

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