IUPAC nomenclature part 1, organic

Abstract

Chemical names of some sort have been used for a long time, but it was not until the nineteenth century that serious attempts were made to produce a logical system of chemical nomenclature. The Geneva Conference [1] of 1892 was set up to examine nomenclature of organic chemicals and attempt to produce unified rules. Although it was impossible to produce rules for everything, many of the guidelines produced then are still in use today. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) was formed in 1919, and in 1923 set up a group to consider nomenclature of organic chemicals. As time passed, more and more aspects of nomenclature were considered and recommendations were published for naming chemicals of all kinds. A major problem is that organic chemistry is viable, in its true sense. Just when you think you have rules covering every possibility, somebody finds an entirely new chemical structure. A recent example is the discovery of fullerenes — how do you decide which carbon atom is number two? Work is constantly in progress to cover new eventualities and to tidy up old problems.