[mylkoa]

Hello

According to the dictionary which came with my Macintosh, the word allylic comes from the word "allium" which is Latin for "garlic". What does an allylic group have to do with garlic?

I have seen similar naming mysteries with other things like as Pyruvic Acid, which comes from Latin... "pyro"=fire "uva"=grape.... why is it named such?

Similarly, Alkynes are synonymous with Acetylenes, is this by some pre-IUPAC naming standards? If Alkynes=Acetylenes then what do Alkenes=?

I have a feeling there is a deeper signifigance to chemical naming than what first meets the eye!

Thanks,
Andrew

[AWK]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliin

[mylkoa]

Thank you, AWK.

I'm very  interested in Chemical etymology and I may look more into this subject and post about it. According to the Apple dictionary, this term came about in the 19th century.

I wonder, did some scientist in the 19th century synthesize or isolate something, smell it, and call it allin because it reminded him/her of Garlic?

Thanks again for the wiki link.

Cheers,
Andrew

[AWK]

Read history of chemistry. Usually ech book contains timeline of discoveries at the beginning of book.
Wikipedia also gives many historical informations

[mylkoa]

Read history of chemistry. Usually ech book contains timeline of discoveries at the beginning of book.
Wikipedia also gives many historical informations

Hello AWK,

I have started down this road, and it is a very long one.

If anyone else is interested in the Chemical History, one of the best books I have come across is The Developement Of Modern Chemistry by Aaron Ihde.

But for most questions, the books don't provide direct answers. I have done a fair amount of detective work and still many of my questions remain unanswered. Nonetheless, it's fun to read and research, so that process tends to satisfy the itch of amateur curiosity. Occasionally stitching together pieces of information from different sources will yield a motley quilt than can comfortably warm the understanding.

At this point I can only wonder how people weather research in professional situations where they NEED answers!

Sincerely,
Andrew

[AWK]

At this point I can only wonder how people weather research in professional situations where they NEED answers!

We have thousands of books in library and millions of articles in libraries and computer databases.