In: Chemistry
What is wrong with the name 1‐t‐butyl‐2‐methylpropane?
Concept and reason
IUPAC stands for the international union of pure and applied chemistry. IUPAC has given a nomenclature to name the organic compounds. The IUPAC name consists of three parts: root name, prefix, and suffix.
Fundamentals
The IUPAC rules for naming the compound are as follows:
1. Find and name the longest continuous carbon chain.
2. Identify and name groups attached to this chain.
3. Number the chain consecutively, starting at the end nearest a substituent group.
4. Designate the location of each substituent group by an appropriate number and name.
5. Assemble the name, listing groups in alphabetical order using the full name (e.g. cyclopropyl before isobutyl).
6. The prefixes di, tri, tetra, etc., used to designate several groups of the same kind, are not considered when alphabetizing.
The structure of 1-tert-butyl-2-methylpropane is as follows:
Draw the structure containing three carbon atoms in the long chain and then place the tertiary butyl group at the 1st carbon atom, methyl group at 2 nd carbon atom.
There are five carbon atoms in the long chain and the functional group is an alkane. So, the name of the parent chain is pentane. Number the chain and see that the substituents get the lowest possible number.
This structure contains three methyl groups as substituents.
The correct parent chain is pentane.
The two methyl groups are at 2 nd carbon and another methyl group is at 4th carbon atom. So, the correct name of this compound is 2,2,4 -trimethylpentane.