Nomenclature of Aliphatic Amines

Simple amines are named as derivatives of the parent alkane, using the suffix -amine, or by using -amino to name a numbered substituent, using the following rules:

  1. Select the longest continuous carbon chain, containing the amino group, and derive the parent name by replacing the -e ending with -amine, or by naming the nitrogen as an amino substituent.
  2. Number the carbon chain, beginning at the end nearest to the amino group, or, to give the lowest number at the first point of difference.
  3. Number the substituents and write the name, listing substituents alphabetically.

Thus for the following example, you would number from the end closest to the nitrogen, generating the names, 3-methylpentanamine (or 1-amino-3-methylpentane) and 5-methyl-2-hexanamine (or 2-amino-5-methyl-2-hexane), respectively.

In this example, however, you number to give the lowest number at the first point of difference, generating the name, 5-amino-2,3-dimethylhexane (not 2-amino-4,5-dimethylhexane).

Some examples:

Multiple substituents on the nitrogen are named using simple multipliers:

Amines are further categorized as "primary, secondary, tertiary and quarternary" based on the number of substituents on the nitrogen: