The Nomenclature of Alkyl Halides

The carbon to which the halogen is attached determines whether an aikyi haiide is primary, secondary, or tertiary. 

The common names of alkyl halides consist of the name of the alkyl group, followed by the name of the halogen—with the ine ending of the halogen name (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine) replaced by ide (fluoride, chloride, bromide, and iodide). 

A compound can have more than one name, but a name must specify only one compound. 

In the lUPAC system, alkyl halides are named as substituted alkanes. The prefixes for the halogens end with 0 (that is, fluoro, chloro, bromo, and iodo). Therefore, alkyl halides are also called haloalkanes. Notice that although a name must specify only one compound, a compound can have more than one name. 

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This chapter focuses on the substitution reactions of alkyl halides—compounds in which the leaving group is a halide ion (F , CF, Br , or F). The nomenclature of alkyl halides was discussed in Section 2.4. 

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