Chemistry:IUPAC nomenclature for organic transformations

Short description: IUPAC methodology for naming chemical reactions

The IUPAC Nomenclature for Transformations is a methodology for naming a chemical reaction. Traditionally, most chemical reactions, especially in organic chemistry, are named after their inventors, the so-called name reactions, such as Knoevenagel condensation, Wittig reaction, Claisen-Schmidt condensation, Schotten–Baumann reaction, and Diels-Alder reaction. A lot of reactions derive their name from the reagent involved like bromination or acylation. On rare occasions, the reaction is named after the company responsible like in the Wacker process or the name only hints at the process involved like in the halogen dance rearrangement. The related IUPAC nomenclature is designed for naming organic compounds themselves.

The IUPAC Nomenclature for Transformations was developed in 1981 and presents a clear-cut methodology for naming an organic reaction. It incorporates the reactant and product in a chemical transformation together with one of three transformation types:

• substitutions have the infix -de-. For example: methoxy-de-bromination for the chemical reaction of a bromo-alkane to an alkoxy-alkane
• additions end with -addition. For example: hydro-bromo-addition for the hydrobromination of an alkene
• eliminations. end with -elimination. For example: dibromo-elimination.

Notes and references

• Jones, R.A.Y. Bunnett, J.F. (1989). "Nomenclature for organic chemical transformations" (Free fulltext). Pure Appl. Chem. 61: 725–768. doi:10.1351/pac198961040725. http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/1989/pdf/6104x0725.pdf. 
• March, Jerry (1985). Advanced organic chemistry: reactions, mechanisms, and structure. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-85472-7.