[mintsharpie]

In my Chemistry class, we're learning how to write IUPAC names and draw structural diagrams for ethers, aldehydes, ketones, amines, amides, carboxylic acids and esters. My question is: how do you identify them? Although we were given a chart that gives examples for each of them, when I am faced with a question I often don't know where to start. For example, say I were asked to name the following compound:

                    O
                    ||
CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂CH

I don't even know what functional group it belongs to. Is it an aldehyde or a ketone, or something else entirely? These questions confuse me so much. Does anyone have any tips that could help me become more comfortable with questions like these, or steps on how I should go about approaching them? I have a test on it tomorrow.

Thanks.

[Astrokel]

It is pentanal because R-CH=O. Usually i would let the bulky alkyl group be R for easy identification. High school nomenclature is not that difficult as long as you get the basics right. However if there are more than 2 functional groups present in a compound, you have to determine which has higher priority and name it accordingly. Good luck to your test!