Translating a Name into its Chemical Structure

1. The first step is to identify the parent function, which usually is determined from the suffix or word at the end of the name. Suppose, for example, that a structure is to be written for a compound having the name 3-methoxybutanal. The suffix -al is the IUPAC suffix for aldehyde; therefore the compound is an aldehyde and the function is −CHO.

3. The rest of the name, which generally precedes the parent name, describes the substituent and its position on the parent chain. In our example, 3-methoxy means a CH3O−group at C3. Thus the complete structure of 3-methoxybutanal is

The foregoing examples illustrate that naming compounds from structures or deducing structures from names requires knowledge of both the parent names and the substituent names of the important types of functional and nonfunctional groups. This information is summarized in the following sections and in Table 7-1.