Article
Article
Chemical nomenclature
Article By:
Moss, Gerard P. Department of Chemistry, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.127550
A system of principles and rules used to name chemical compounds. Various nomenclature systems are used. Hence, a compound may have several acceptable names. Which name is preferred depends on the context. Each nomenclature type has several dialects due to different languages or other national variations. Even though the language of science communication is increasingly English, there are still differences, such as aluminium versus aluminum and sulfur versus sulphur for the names of elements, icosane versus eicosane for the C20 hydrocarbon chain, and but-2-ene versus 2-butene for the locant. See also: Chemical symbols and formulas
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