Nomenclature of Carbon Compounds:

The names of all carbon compounds are derived from IUPAC nomenclature .

ALL CARBON COMPOUNDS ARE DERIVED FROM IUPAC NOMENCLATURE - Teachoo.jpg

As per this Nomenclature

  • One Carbon Atom in a compound is indicated by 'Meth’ 
  • Two Carbon Atoms in a compound are indicated by 'Eth
  • Three Carbon Atoms in a compound are indicated by 'Prop ’ and so on. 

ROOT WORDS FOR HYDROCARBON NOMENCLATURE - Teachoo.jpg

  • The saturation of a carbon compound is indicated by adding suffixes to the prefixes discussed above.

For Alkanes :

  • The suffix is ‘ane’

So, a carbon compound with 1 carbon atom will have the prefix ‘meth’ and a suffix ‘ane’ and will be called ‘Methane’.

Examples of Alkanes:

No of Carbon Atoms

Name

Formula

1

Methane

CH 4

2

Ethane

C 2 H 6

3

Propane

C 3 H 8

4

Butane

C 4 H 10

5

Pentane

C 5 H 12

6

Hexane

C 6 H 14

7

Heptane

C 7 H 16

8

Octane

C 8 H 18

9

Nonane

C 9 H 20

10

Decane

C 10 H 22

 

For Alkenes :

  • The suffix is ‘ene’
  • An Alkene is a hydrocarbon in which carbon atoms are connected by double bonds .
  • Now, a single carbon atom cannot form double bonds with itself.
  • So, “Methene” does not exist .

A carbon compound with 2 carbon atoms and a double bond  will have the prefix ‘Eth’ and a suffix ‘ene’ and will be called ‘Ethene’.

 

Examples of Alkenes

No of Carbon Atoms

Name

Formula

2

Ethene

C 2 H 4

3

Propene

C 3 H 6

4

Butene

C 4 H 8

5

Pentene

C 5 H 10

6

Hexene

C 6 H 12

7

Heptene

C 7 H 14

8

Octene

C 8 H 16

9

Nonene

C 9 H 18

10

Decene

C 10 H 20

 

For Alkynes :

  • The suffix is ‘yne’
  • These are the hydrocarbons in which carbon atoms are connected by triple bonds .
  • Now, a single carbon atom cannot form triple bonds with itself.
  • So, “Methyne” does not exist .

A carbon compound with 2 carbon atoms and a triple bond will have the prefix ‘Eth’ and a suffix ‘yne’ and will be called ‘Ethyne’.

Examples of Alkynes:

No of Carbon Atoms

Name

Formula

2

Ethyne

C 2 H 2

3

Propyne

C 3 H 4

4

Butyne

C 4 H 6

5

Pentyne

C 5 H 8

6

Hexyne

C 6 H 10

7

Heptyne

C 7 H 12

8

Octyne

C 8 H 14

9

Nonyne

C 9 H 16

10

Decyne

C 10 H 18

 

 

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Maninder Singh

CA Maninder Singh is a Chartered Accountant for the past 14 years and a teacher from the past 18 years. He teaches Science, Economics, Accounting and English at Teachoo