Home Physical Sciences 4. The IUPAC systematic nomenclature
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

4. The IUPAC systematic nomenclature

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Explore this Subject How to publish with us
The Etymology of Chemical Names
This chapter is in the book The Etymology of Chemical Names
4 The IUPAC systematic nomenclatureWith its recommendations the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry(IUPAC) [1], founded in 1919, standardizes chemical nomenclature in general [2]and has, inter alia, issued recommendations for the nomenclature of inorganicchemistry in the shape of the‘Red Book’[3] and of organic chemistry as the‘BlueBook’[4]. The 2013 issue of the‘Blue Book’is beset by a sheer overwhelming num-ber of misprints and errors and IUPAC has initiated a project to provide a list of er-rata to the IUPAC‘Blue Book’, an improved subject index, some corrected,improved, or revised sections, and some additional sections to deal with omissionsfrom the current edition [5]. A dedicated IUPAC Nomenclature webpage provides awealth of information including many structural formulas with the appropriate lo-cants shown [6].By and large IUPAC nomenclature operates with three naming systems, i.e.compositional, substitutive, and additive names. Even in simple cases, such as PF3,this gives rise to three valid IUPAC names, i.e. phosphorus trifluoride, trifluoro-phosphane, and trifluoridophosphorus.4.1 Retained namesContrary to popular belief even basically systematic nomenclature cannot avoidthe use of trivial names in the shape of‘retained names’. Trivial names have beenretained for mainly two reasons: names which are deeply rooted in common lan-guage and names whose fully systematic equivalent would be unwieldy andtedious.4.1.1 Parent hydridesThe current IUPAC nomenclature is the result of a tug-of-war between tradition, sys-tematic rigor, and convenience. Already IUPAC’s naming of the alkanes breaks withthe otherwise fundamental rule that parent hydride names of non-metallic elementsshould be composed of the modified element name and‘ane’which, in the case ofcarbon, gives the names carbane, dicarbane, tricarbane, etc., is broken in deferenceto tradition: the first four alkanes, methane, ethane, propane, and butane, retaintheir well-established trivial names, and the following pentane, hexane, etc. lackthe otherwise mandatory element name, also here following a strong and ingrowntradition. Thus, a very basic IUPAC rule has never been extended to apply to themany millions of organic compounds.https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110612714-004
© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston

4 The IUPAC systematic nomenclatureWith its recommendations the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry(IUPAC) [1], founded in 1919, standardizes chemical nomenclature in general [2]and has, inter alia, issued recommendations for the nomenclature of inorganicchemistry in the shape of the‘Red Book’[3] and of organic chemistry as the‘BlueBook’[4]. The 2013 issue of the‘Blue Book’is beset by a sheer overwhelming num-ber of misprints and errors and IUPAC has initiated a project to provide a list of er-rata to the IUPAC‘Blue Book’, an improved subject index, some corrected,improved, or revised sections, and some additional sections to deal with omissionsfrom the current edition [5]. A dedicated IUPAC Nomenclature webpage provides awealth of information including many structural formulas with the appropriate lo-cants shown [6].By and large IUPAC nomenclature operates with three naming systems, i.e.compositional, substitutive, and additive names. Even in simple cases, such as PF3,this gives rise to three valid IUPAC names, i.e. phosphorus trifluoride, trifluoro-phosphane, and trifluoridophosphorus.4.1 Retained namesContrary to popular belief even basically systematic nomenclature cannot avoidthe use of trivial names in the shape of‘retained names’. Trivial names have beenretained for mainly two reasons: names which are deeply rooted in common lan-guage and names whose fully systematic equivalent would be unwieldy andtedious.4.1.1 Parent hydridesThe current IUPAC nomenclature is the result of a tug-of-war between tradition, sys-tematic rigor, and convenience. Already IUPAC’s naming of the alkanes breaks withthe otherwise fundamental rule that parent hydride names of non-metallic elementsshould be composed of the modified element name and‘ane’which, in the case ofcarbon, gives the names carbane, dicarbane, tricarbane, etc., is broken in deferenceto tradition: the first four alkanes, methane, ethane, propane, and butane, retaintheir well-established trivial names, and the following pentane, hexane, etc. lackthe otherwise mandatory element name, also here following a strong and ingrowntradition. Thus, a very basic IUPAC rule has never been extended to apply to themany millions of organic compounds.https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110612714-004
© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Acknowledgments VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. 1. Introduction 1
  6. 2. Samples of trivial and semitrivial names 3
  7. 3. Rudimentary systematic nomenclature 155
  8. 4. The IUPAC systematic nomenclature 167
  9. 5. The Chemical Abstracts systematic nomenclature 237
  10. 6. The naming of the elements 241
  11. 7. The naming of lipids and lipid constituents 271
  12. 8. The naming of terpenes 287
  13. 9. The naming of carbohydrates 299
  14. 10. The naming of amino acids, oligo- and polypeptides 313
  15. 11. The naming of other natural products 329
  16. 12. Named reactions and named concepts 337
  17. 13. The naming of minerals 383
  18. 14. International non-proprietary names for drugs and excipients 413
  19. 15. ISO common names for pesticides and other agrochemicals 421
  20. 16. Initialisms and acronyms 425
  21. 17. The vocabulary of chemistry 451
  22. 18. A sampler of miscellaneous prefixes and suffixes occurring in scientific terms 479
  23. 19. Trivial chemical names with disputed etymology 497
  24. 20. Some chemical names without known etymology 499
  25. Source Language Index 501
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110612714-004

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Acknowledgments VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. 1. Introduction 1
  6. 2. Samples of trivial and semitrivial names 3
  7. 3. Rudimentary systematic nomenclature 155
  8. 4. The IUPAC systematic nomenclature 167
  9. 5. The Chemical Abstracts systematic nomenclature 237
  10. 6. The naming of the elements 241
  11. 7. The naming of lipids and lipid constituents 271
  12. 8. The naming of terpenes 287
  13. 9. The naming of carbohydrates 299
  14. 10. The naming of amino acids, oligo- and polypeptides 313
  15. 11. The naming of other natural products 329
  16. 12. Named reactions and named concepts 337
  17. 13. The naming of minerals 383
  18. 14. International non-proprietary names for drugs and excipients 413
  19. 15. ISO common names for pesticides and other agrochemicals 421
  20. 16. Initialisms and acronyms 425
  21. 17. The vocabulary of chemistry 451
  22. 18. A sampler of miscellaneous prefixes and suffixes occurring in scientific terms 479
  23. 19. Trivial chemical names with disputed etymology 497
  24. 20. Some chemical names without known etymology 499
  25. Source Language Index 501
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 23.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110612714-004/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOoqh9bCnCeGsLKqfLHnwtlmP-HgalJls0KkgicVEAKMjrAC7UDK8
Scroll to top button