Basic Organic Nomenclature

Ethers
1) Named as an alkyl alkyl ether:

Ethers are characterized by two alkyl groups being bonded to a central oxygen atom
(i.e. R-O-R). The alkyl groups need not be the same, and may contain other function
groups. Unfortunately there are several ways to name ethers. An older, but still
common method for simple ethers, is to name it as an alkyl alkyl ether (note the
spaces between the words). If the two alkyl groups are the same it is named as
a dialkyl ether.

Examples naming simple ethers:

Compound Name Line Drawing 3D Model

ethyl methyl ether

t-butyl propyl ether

isopropyl methyl ether

diethyl ether
or ether

2) Named as an alkoxy- substituent:

The most common way of naming ethers is as an alkoxy substituent on a parent chain
(or ring). This is the common method when one of the alkyl groups is a small simple
group, while the other is complex containing multiple substituents or multiple bonds.
In this case the smaller of the two alkyl groups is named as the alkoxy substituent,
with its location indicated by the numbering scheme of the parent chain (or ring).

The alkoxy substituent is named by the root name of the chain, adding the -oxy
suffix, i.e. methoxy, ethoxy, propoxy, ...
A few examples of naming alkoxy ethers:
Compound Name Line Drawing
3-methoxy-1-propene

2-ethoxy-2,4-dimethylpentane

isopropoxycycloheptane

1-methyl-4-sec-butoxycyclohexene

3) Named as an -oxa- substituent:

The final way to name ethers is as an oxa substituent. This method only applies to
very complex molecules, where neither of the alkyl groups can be named as simple
hydrocarbons, or to complex cyclic ethers.

The ether is named by including the oxygen atom in the length of the carbon
chain (or ring). Its location is identified by the position number and the -oxa-
prefix. Note: the numbering of the chain follows previous rules, lowest
numbers for substituents, multiple bonds, alphabetical order of substituents, etc.

A few examples of naming oxa ethers:

Compound Name Line Drawing

7-chloro-2,3,4,8-tetramethyl-6-oxadecane

7-ethyl-4,8-dimethyl-6-oxa-2,4-nonadiene
Sulfides
Sulfides are the sulfur analog of ethers. They contain a sulfur atom bonded to two
alkyl groups (i.e. R-S-R). They are named as an alkyl alkyl sulfide similar to the
simple ethers.

A few examples of naming sulfides:

Compound Name Line Drawing

ethyl methyl sulfide

dimethyl sulfide

sec-butyl propyl sulfide