Naming organic compounds... if you really want to know

10 Naming organic compounds. .. if you really want to know  

The thousands of alkanes exist because of the possible arrangement of the carbon atoms either in long chains or in shorter chains but with branching side arms. Some of the values of n can be as high as 200, or even run into thousands. 

When two compounds in any homologous series have the same molecular formula but a different arrangement of atoms or groups of atoms, there is a possibility of a further type of isomerism called positional or structural isomerism. The bigger the molecule, the greater the possibilities of isomerism. Some theoretically possible isomers might not actually exist, due to their impossibly contorted shapes. 

Note that generally we write a hyphen between a number and a letter and a comma between a number and another number in the name (by a worldwide agreement amongst chemists, the names of the formulae are in British format), e.g. 2,2-dimethylpropane. 

Ethane, a simple hydrocarbon, C2H6, seems to be formed by the unusually high concentration of free radicals in patients with a tendency to cancerous growths. These radicals attack proteins and make hydrocarbons, including ethane. A gas detector is being tested to see if the presence of ethane in the breath can be used to detect lung cancer in patients who have shown symptoms.3 

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NAMING ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. .. IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW ... 

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