Understanding Butanol: The Chemical Name for CH3CH2CH2CH2OH

The compound with the chemical formula CH3CH2CH2CH2OH is commonly referred to as butanol. This term encompasses several variations depending on the specific structure of the molecule.

Defining Butanol

Butanol is a type of alcohol with four carbon atoms in its chain. The IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) name for this compound is butan-1-ol. This name stems from the presence of a hydroxyl (-OH) group attached to the first carbon in the straight-chain alkane, giving it the systematic name butan-1-ol.

N-Butanol vs. 1-Butanol

Butanol can be specified as either n-butanol or 1-butanol. The 'n' in n-butanol stands for 'normal,' indicating a straight-chain structure. In structure, it is linear, consisting of four carbons in a single chain. Therefore, it is also called 1-butanol due to the hydroxyl group being attached to the first carbon in the chain.

Chemical Coordinates and Isomers

An interesting point to note about the structure of butanol is the presence of a five-coordinate carbon. For the formula H3C-C(CH3)2CH2OH, this would be called neopentyl alcohol, or more precisely, 2,2-dimethylpropanol. This classification comes from the presence of two methyl groups attached to the second carbon and the absence of any double or triple bonds.

Confusing Structures and Isobutanol

Another case to consider is the formula CH3-2-CH-CH2-CH2-OH. This structure is actually isobutanol, not butanol. Isobutanol is a branched alcohol with the formula CH3CH(CH3)CH2OH.

Formulating Butanol

The chemical name of the structure CH3CH2CH2CH2OH is BUTANOL. Let’s break this down by following the IUPAC naming rules:

No. of carbon atoms in the structure 4. Hence, the root name is But. Since all the bonds are single, we append the suffix -ane. With the hydroxyl group (-OH) as the functional group, we use the suffix -ol.

To summarize, the name butan-1-ol follows these straightforward rules, where 'but' denotes the four carbon atoms, '-ane' refers to the single-bonded nature, and '-ol' signifies the alcohol-group presence at the first carbon.