So I thought I understood nomenclature rules, but then in my EK 1001 orgo book there is problem dealing with 2-ethyl-2-pentanol compound that I was drawing wrong.
How I imagine it would look = longest chain is 5 carbons (pent) with an alcohol (pentanol) on the 2nd (2-pentanol) carbon and ethyl group on the 2nd carbon (2-ethyl-2-pentanol). But that can't be right because the main chain should include the functional group and have the longest carbon chain - so it should be 3-methyl-3-hexanol, right?
Did I learn the rules wrong or am I right in being confused? Or are both ways of writing the structure fine?
How I imagine it would look = longest chain is 5 carbons (pent) with an alcohol (pentanol) on the 2nd (2-pentanol) carbon and ethyl group on the 2nd carbon (2-ethyl-2-pentanol). But that can't be right because the main chain should include the functional group and have the longest carbon chain - so it should be 3-methyl-3-hexanol, right?
Did I learn the rules wrong or am I right in being confused? Or are both ways of writing the structure fine?
