Question

When you have an IUPAC name that starts with a number, i.e. 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid, but it's at the start of the sentence would you capitalize the first letter in the name? For example:

3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid can reduce sugars with aldehyde or ketone functionality.

or,

3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid can reduce sugars.

Answer 1

The first letter following the numeral in an IUPAC name at the start of a sentence should be capitalized, for example, '3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid'. This adheres to the English grammar rule of capitalizing the first word in a sentence.

Step-by-step explanation:

When an IUPAC name starts with a number and it begins a sentence, the first letter following the numeral should be capitalized to adhere to standard English grammar rules. Hence, the correct way to write it would be '3,5-Dinitrosalicylic acid can reduce sugars with aldehyde or ketone functionality.' This follows the general convention that the first letter of the first word in a sentence should be capitalized, even if it is part of a chemical name.

The numerical prefixes in IUPAC nomenclature indicate the position of the functional groups and are separated by hyphens from the rest of the name without spaces. IUPAC names for aldehydes and ketones incorporate the location of the carbonyl group using the lowest possible number for its position. Prefixes like di and tri, indicating the number of identical substituent groups, do not influence the alphabetical order of substituents.