[Mike Dacre]

I had a question recently that asked me about n-pentane. I was confused as I had never heard of 'n-pentane', so I asked about it and was told that n means primary, and that you can have n, s, or t alkanes: primary, secondary, or tertiary.

I should have followed up and asked what that meant, but I decided to look online. The problem is I can't find anything online. I know the difference between 1°, 2°, 3°, and 4° carbons, but what is a secondary alkane? Is there such a thing as s-pentane? What does that even mean? I see n-pentane mentioned around, but it appears redundant.

Any help would be appreciated.

[TheUnassuming]

In the case of alkanes, n- denotes no branching.  For branching alkanes, iso and neo are the common prefixes.   

[Mike Dacre]

That makes a lot of sense, thank you. Are the s- or t- prefixes used ever, or is it iso- neo- tert-?

[Mike Dacre]

Wait, is s- just short for sec- and t- short for tert-?

[Mike Dacre]

Yes it is, I answered my own question:

t- = tert- = tertiary
s- = sec- = secondary

I don't know why that was so hard to find. For some reason this wasn't mentioned in my course or textbook. We were told what sec- and ter- looked like, but not that they just stood for secondary and tertiary and could be further abbreviated to s- and t-.

[TheUnassuming]

Yes it is, I answered my own question:

t- = tert- = tertiary
s- = sec- = secondary

I don't know why that was so hard to find. For some reason this wasn't mentioned in my course or textbook. We were told what sec- and ter- looked like, but not that they just stood for secondary and tertiary and could be further abbreviated to s- and t-.

Good! Something you have to search to learn you won't forget