Hydrocarbon functional groups normal alkanes

Alkanes are a class of saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula C H2n. -2- They contain no functional groups, are relatively inert, and can be either straight-chain (normal) or branched. Alkanes are named by a series of IUPAC rules of nomenclature. Compounds that have the same chemical formula but different structures are called isomers. More specifically, compounds such as butane and isobutane, which differ in their connections between atoms, are called constitutional isomers. 

Note that the hydrocarbon side-chain is named by adding -yl to the normal alkane stem, in this case a methyl group. This type of group is called an alkyl group. If there is more than one of the same alkyl side-chain or functional group we indicate how many by inserting di (for two), tri (for three) or tetra (for four) in front of its name. Figure 14.9 shows an example. 

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