Organic Chemistry: Concepts and Applications - Headley Allan D. 2020

Carbon Functional Groups and Organic Nomenclature
2.4 Organic Nomenclature

Around the middle of the nineteenth century, many compounds were synthesized or isolated from natural sources and there had to be a systematic way of communicating the names and the structures of these compounds within the scientific community. The system of naming chemical compounds used at that time was not based on a scientific method. For example, barbituric acid, which is the parent compound for barbiturate drugs, it is believed that the name was derived from a woman's name, Barbara. Adolph von Baeyer, a German chemist, synthesized a new compound from urea and malonic acid and he did not have a name for this new compound, so he decided to name it after St. Barbara’s Day because he was celebrating both the discovery of this new compound and Saint Barbara’s birthday that day.

DID YOU KNOW?

Phenobarbital, which is a derivative of barbituric acid, is used to treat insomnia and is also used as a sedative to relieve the symptoms of anxiety or tension, and to control certain types of seizures. It is believed that the parent name of this class of compounds known as barbiturates was derived from a woman's name, Barbara.

During that period, a lot of trivial names were used, and other chemists could not readily determine the exact structures of the compounds, unless they had prior knowledge of that system of naming compounds. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemists (IUPAC) decided on a set of rules that should be used by the scientific community for the naming of compounds in general, not only organic compounds but also inorganic compounds as well. As a result, there are specific rules that were established for the naming of compounds.