Nomenclature of Bicylo Compounds

Nomenclature of Bicylo Compounds

A class of saturated compounds consisting of two rings only, having two or more atoms in common, containing at least one hetero atom, and that take the name of an open chain hydrocarbon containing the same total number of atoms. In Bicyclo compounds two rings are fused together at two C-atoms known, as Bridged head C-atoms.

We name compounds containing 2 fused or bridged rings as bicyclo alkanes and we use the name of the alkane corresponding to the total number of carbon atoms as the base name. The carbon atoms common to both the rings are called bridgeheads, and each bond, or chain of atoms connecting the bridgehead atoms, is called a bridge.

bicyclo compounds

Here counting is done from one bridge atom to another bridge C-atom following longer to shorter path.

Here the compound is named as follow.

Prefix names + bicycle [x, y, z] + alk + suffix name

Here x, y, zare no of C-atom in decreasing order in the 3-paths from one bridge C-atom to another bridge C-atom.