[bigwoklun]

Hello I am a Technical writer and this is my first post and I was wondering, as my organic chemistry experience is low, what does the ' in 2,'4,'6'....mean?

Thanks for any advice,
L.

[AWK]

If you cite a complete name then the correct name is:
2,4,6-trihydroxybenzoic acid
Numbers show position of substituents at the ring starting from number 1 at COOH group

[bigwoklun]

Thank you! But what do the primes mean? Are they to do with side chains?

[AWK]

Primes never are used in such a way

2,'4,'6'

Sometimes may be used as 2',4',6' (if there are two identical parts of molecule to distinguish betwen , eg 2,3,4 subtituents in one part and 2,4,6 substituents in the second part, for this purposes primes are used at the second set od substituents) but not in this case.

[Borek]

bigwoklun - where have you seen it? Primes are sometimes side effect of improper font/encoding use.

[bigwoklun]

Thanks for the quick replies.