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Organic Chemistry
Organic nomenclature: Naming alkanes, alkenes, a

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Hydrocarbons
• A saturated hydrocarbon is made up
of carbon and hydrogen and contains
no multiple bonds.
• All alkanes have the general formula:
CnH2n+2

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Naming Alkanes
• Straight-chain (unbranched) hydrocarbons are
named as follows:
1. A prefix indicates the number of carbons
and the name ends in “-ane”
Meth – 1 Hex – 6
Eth – 2 Hept – 7
Prop – 3 Oct – 8
But – 4 Non – 9
Pent – 5 Dec - 10

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Naming Alkanes
• Therefore, H

CH4 is methane H C H
H

H H

C2H6 is ethane H C C H
H H

H H H

C3H8 is propane H C C C H
H H H

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Isomers
• Starting with butane, alkanes will exhibit
structural isomerism. Structural isomers have
the same molecular formula, but the atoms are
bonded in a different arrangement.
• Butane has 2 structural isomers: H
H H
H H H H C
H H
H C C C C H C C C
H H
H H H H H H H

n-butane isobutane

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• Pentane has 3 structural isomers:

CH3
H3C CH2 CH2 CH2 CH3 H3C CH CH2 CH3
n-pentane isopentane

CH3
H3C C CH3
CH3
neopentane

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But be careful!
• The following may look different, but
they are the same as isopentane!
CH3 H3C CH2 CH CH3
H3C CH CH2 CH3
CH3

H3C CH CH2 CH3

CH3

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Substituents
• For branched hydrocarbons, always use the parent
name of the longest chain.
• A substituent is a different group on the hydrocarbon
chain instead of a hydrogen.
• When alkane groups appear as substituents, drop
“-ane” ending and add “-yl”
-CH3 is methyl
-CH2CH3 is ethyl
-CH2CH2CH3 is propyl
-CH3CHCH3 is isopropyl

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Naming Alkanes
• Number the carbons on the parent
chain from the end that gives the
substituent the lowest number and
indicate this number in front of the
substituent.

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Example:
Name the following alkane:
Longest carbon chain? (Parent)

1 2 3

H3C CH2 CH CH2 CH2 CH3

Substituent?
CH3
3-methyl hexane

Note: This is the same structure as the structure above.

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Example:
Name the following alkane:
Longest carbon chain? (Parent)

H3C 2

CH2 Substituent?

H3C CH
CH2 CH3

3-methyl pentane

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Naming Alkanes
• If there is more than one substituent, list
them in alphabetical order.
• Prefixes such as di-, tri- , tetra- etc. are
used to indicate multiple identical
substituents.

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Example:
Name the following alkane:
Longest carbon chain? (Parent)

1 2 3

H3C CH CH CH3
Substituent?
CH3 CH3

2,3-dimethyl butane

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Example:
Name the following alkane:
Longest carbon chain? (Parent) CH3
H2C Substituents?

CH2 CH2 5 CH
4
3 CH2 1
H3C CH2 CH CH CH3
CH3 CH3
4-ethyl-3,5-dimethyl nonane

Note: Prefixes such as di-, tri- etc. are ignored for alphabetical arrangements of the

substituents.

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Cyclic Alkanes
• Carbon atoms can form rings containing only
saturated C-C (single) bonds.
• General formula: CnH2n
cyclopropane cyclobutane cyclopentane
H H H H
H H
H C H
C H H
C C C C
H H H H
C C C C C C
H H H H
H H H H H H

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Naming Cyclic Alkanes

• Use the same naming rules as before
except attach the prefix “cyclo-” to
name the parent.
• Use the same substituent naming
rules as before.

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Example:
Name the following cycloalkane:

Parent name?
CH3
H3C HC
CH
1 2
CH2 Substituents?

H2C 3
CH
CH2 CH3

1-isopropyl-3-methyl cyclopentane

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Example:
Name the following cycloalkane:
Parent name?
H3C
CH2 Substituents?

H2C CH2
2 1 CH3
CH CH
H2C CH2
1-ethyl-2-propyl cyclobutane

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