Naming Systems

To Remember💡

Systemic naming begins at the carboxylic end and contains much longer words, as it is the more complicated and specific naming. 

Omega's are short, and used when we talk about nutrition. If you look at labels, you will start to notice these terms (and now know what they mean!). 

Omega Naming

Instead of starting from the carboxylic end, this system relies on starting at the opposite side of the molecule. From here, much like the prior system, you count to the first carbon that contains a double bond. It is typically written as (Number of total Carbons in the chain) : (Number of Double Bonds) followed by Omega- (The first carbon that contains a double bond). 

This is a shorthand form to keep track of these fatty acids. 

Lets go through an example: 

If you have a chain that contains 10 carbons, 2 double bonds, and has a double bond at the 4th carbon from the noncarboxylic end, the omega name would be: 

10:2 Omega-4

Often, when we talk about nutrition, we do not specify the two numbers out front. This is why when we talk about Omega 3's or Omega 6's etc, there are a lot of possibilities for what this molecule may look like. What we care about in nutrition is the first double bond position, as our bodies cannot naturally synthesize any double bonds that are more than 9 carbons away from the carboxylic end.