Compound type | Group structure | Example |
Carboxylate salt | Soaps | |
Acyl choride | Ethanoyl Chloride | |
Acid anhydride | Ethanoic Anhydride | |
Amide | Ethanamide | |
Ester | Ethyl Ethanoate |
You should also be aware of a few other amine and related molecules
Molecule | Group structure | Example |
Secondary amine | Dimethylamine | |
Tertiary amine | Trimethylamine | |
Alkyl ammonium salt | Benzalkonium Chloride |
Nomenclature of new groups
Compound/molecule | Suffix | Prefix | Additional notes | Example |
Carboxylate salts | -anoate | The cation is first | Sodium methanoate | |
Acyl chlorides | -anoyl chloride | No numbering is needed | Ethanoyl chloride | |
Acid anhydrides | -anoic or aklyl | Same alkyl group: ethanoic anhydrideDifferent alkyl groups: methanoic ethanoic anhydride | ||
Amides | -anamide | No numbering is needed | Propanamide | |
Esters | -anoate | alkyl- | Methyl methanoate | |
N-substituted amides | -anamide | N-alkyl- | N-ethyl ethanamide | |
Primary amines | -ane | amino- | Amino should be preceded by the number | 2-aminopropane |
Secondary amines | -ane | N-alkyl- | The longest chain is name after the suffix | N-methyl, 2-aminopropane |
Tertiary amines | -ane | N-alkyl- | The longest chain is name after the suffix | N-methyl, N-ethyl, 1-aminopropane |
Alkylammonium salts | -ammonium chloride | They are either primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary | Dimethyldiethylammonium chloride |
Nomenclature of Compounds containing more than one Functional Group
A Level Chemistry – A lot of organic compounds are composed of more than one functional group. These compounds are more complicated to name but you will only need to be aware of a few of these combinations. For A2 Chemistry you should be particularly familiar with amino acids and hydroxynitriles.
Functional groups | Prefix | Additional notes | Examples |
One is an amine or a haloalkane | Simply add the necessary prefix | 3-aminopropanoic acid |
3-chlorobutan-2-olOne is an alcohol and the other a nitrate or contains a C=O bondThe alcohol group: hydroxy- 2-hydroxypropanoic acidOne is an alcohol and the other anything but an amine or haloalkane The -an part is replaced by -en and the position of the alkene is specifiedBut-1-en-4-ol