IUPAC naming conventions of Alkene molecules

Check out our lesson on naming Alkene molecules using IUPAC naming conventions! Be sure to watch our other video about Alkane naming as some of the content here builds off this lesson. Alkene molecules are very similar to Alkane molecules: both are molecules with a carbon backbone. However, Alkene molecules have at least 1 double bond located between two carbon atoms compared to Alkane molecules, which only have single bonds between the carbon atoms. The name of the Alkene molecule depends on how many carbon atoms are in it's backbone or skeleton. For quick reference, the basic names of the first 10 alkenes are listed below:

1. Methene
2. Ethene
3. Propene
4. Butene
5. Pentene
6. Hexene
7. Heptene
8. Octene
9. Nonene
10. Decene

The name of the alkene is also dependent on where the double bond is located and how many double bonds are in the molecule. Watch our video and then use the Molecule Namer study tool to practice!