What is a more substituted carbon from a less substituted carbon? What does substituted mean?

↳Redirected from "What is the chemical formula of a diamond?"
1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
May 16, 2016

It just means that there are a different number of non-hydrogen groups on a particular atom. Below, (1) is a tertiary (#3^@#), (2) is a secondary (#2^@#), and (3) is a primary (#1^@#) central carbon.

#" "" "" "#(1)#" "" "" "" "" "#(2)#" "" "" "" "#(3)

The highlighted carbon is currently being considered the "central" carbon.

Simply put...

  • Since isobutane (1) has one more atom or group attached to the central carbon than propane (2), it is more substituted.
  • Since propane (2) has one more atom or group attached to the central carbon than ethane (3), it is more substituted.
Related questions
See all questions in Quick Introduction of Structures
Impact of this question
64251 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License