IUPAC Nomenclature of Alcohols

IUPAC naming of an alcohol follows four steps: (1) select the longest continuous carbon chain that contains the -OH group as the root chain; (2) number the chain so the -OH-bearing carbon gets the lowest possible locant; (3) name every substituent with its own locant as a prefix; (4) assemble the name as [prefix, substituents] + [root word for chain length] + [primary suffix, -ane for saturated / -ene for unsaturated] + [secondary suffix '-ol']. Worked examples (Table 11.1): isopropyl alcohol, CH3-CH(OH)-CH3, becomes propan-2-ol; tert-butyl alcohol, (CH3)3C-OH, becomes 2-methylpropan-2-ol; neopentyl alcohol, (CH3)3C-CH2-OH, becomes 2,2-dimethylpropan-1-ol; isobutyl alcohol, (CH3)2CH-CH2-OH, becomes 2-methylpropan-1-ol; benzyl alcohol, C6H5-CH2-OH, becomes phenylmethanol; allyl alcohol, CH …