Amides - Structure and Nomenclature

In this article we will see how to assign common and IUPAC names to Amides compounds.

Amides are the organic compounds which are derived from carboxylic acid. They are also known as carboxamide.

Key words: Amides, IUPAC Nomenclature, Lactam.

Names of Amides 

Amides are the organic compounds which are derived from carboxylic acid. They are also known as carboxamide. The amide group is referred as peptide bond when two amino acids are bonded to each other through amide bond.

Since the amides are derivatives of carboxylic acids. The name of amide is written by replacing ic acid or oic acid with the word -amide.

Figure 1: Common names of amides

The nitrogen atom of the amide may have alkyl / aryl substituent attached. In that case we need to write the substituent name as prefix. If there are two identical substituent group present on nitrogen atom then use the word “di” in given name compound. If the substituents are different then write them in alphabetical order. For example;

Figure 2: Names of substituted amides

If the amide derived from cyclic carboxylic acid then the name of amide is written by replacing “ylic acid” with “amide”. For example;

Figure 3: Names of amides derived from cyclic carboxylic acid

Cyclic amides

The cyclic amides are known as lactam. The word lactam is a blend of two words lactone + amide. Commonly they are named by corresponding lactone. The prefix in the name of lactone and lactam refers to the size of ring. 

Figure 4: Common names of cyclic amides

IUPAC Nomenclature of cyclic amides

According to IUPAC nomenclature lactams are named based upon the root name of corresponding aza cycloalkane. The name of lactam is given by omitting last alphabet “e” and adding the word “2-one” (for carbonyl group).  

Figure 5: IUPAC names of cyclic amides

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