Ranking priority you just look at atomic weight...so just add them up. If you have a tie, you look at the next atom.
CHO - 29
CH2OH - 31
CHCH2-27
CCH - 25
lowest priority will be c-ch, then itll be chch2, then cho, and highest priority is ch2oh.
I'm pretty sure that's correct, branching and bonding shouldnt have anything to do with ranking priorities for R/S designation...or at least I wasn't told.
When dealing with priority, a double or triple bond means you count that connectivity twice.
C=O is the same as O-C-O
So an aldehyde carbon with two O bonds will have a higher priority than an alcohol with only one O subsituent.
The O's have higher priority than C's, so the aldehyde and alcohol are ranked above the alkene and alkyne. Of those, the alkyne connectivity is C(CH-CC)3 while the alkene connectivity is C(CH2-C)2H. The alkyne has higher priority.
You can't just add atomic masses. You have to look at the atomic mass at the first point of difference.
-CFH2 = 33amu -C(CH3)3 = 57amu.
-CFH2 is higher priority because F>CH3
I've seen that add-up-the-atomic-masses method before. Whoever it is that does this should stop teaching it, because it's hardly ever right.
1>2>4>3 is correct. look at the atom connected directly to the stereocenter. determine what atoms that atom is connected to and rank according to cahn ingold prelog convention. do this for each of the 4 groups. this way you can easily rank to determine R/S.
check this out too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raJ4UMQaX8U&feature=related
i've never heard of adding up atomic masses to determin R/S. the method described above is much simpler