Students, and sometimes experts, often forget or confuse themselves with the never-ending terms and abbreviations in organic chemistry. In this page, I have put in, as many as possible, the terms often found in organic chemistry and their description. This includes some characterisation terms that may be encountered in research papers. I’ll add more as I remember/find more!
Each set of terms is ordered alphabetically so you can easily find them. And here’s the index.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
At the end of each lists, you’ll find the “Back to top” link, so you can go back and forth between the lists and the index.
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A
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| ACN | – | acetonitrile |
| Ac2O | – | acetic acid anhydride |
| AcO | OAc | acetate |
| AcO– | OAc– | acetate ion |
| AcOH | HOAc, CH3COOH | acetic acid |
| APCI | – | atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation |
| a | a | a |
| a | a | a |
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B
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| BIRD | – | bilinear rotational decoupling |
| Bu | n-Bu | butyl group |
| t-Bu | tert-Bu | tertiary-butyl group |
| t-BuOH | tert-BuOH | tertiary-butanol |
| t-BuOK | tert-BuOK | potassium tertiary-butoxide |
| Bu4NF | TBAF | tetrabutylammonium fluoride |
| b | b | b |
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C
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| CH3COOEt | EtOAc | ethyl acetate |
| CH3COOH | HOAc, AcOH | acetic acid |
| CH3COOMe | MeOAc | methyl acetate |
| COSY | – | correlation spectroscopy |
| c | c | c |
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D
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| DCC | – | N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide |
| DCM | CH2Cl2 | dichloromethane |
| DEPT | – | distortion enhancement by polarisation transfer |
| DFT | – | density function theory |
| DIPEA | – | diisopropylethylamine |
| DMAP | – | 4-dimethylaminopyridine |
| DMF | – | N,N-dimethylformamide |
| DMSO | – | dimethylsulfoxide |
| DNMR | – | dynamic nuclear magnetic resonance |
| d | d | d |
| d | d | d |
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E
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| EI | – | electron impact |
| ES | ESI | electrospray ionisation |
| Et | C2H5 | ethyl group |
| EXSY | – | exchange spectroscopy |
| EtOAc | CH3COOEt | ethyl acetate |
| EtOH | C2H5OH | ethanol |
| e | e | e |
| e | e | e |
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F
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| FID | – | field induction decay |
| FTIR | – | Fourier transfor infrared |
| f | f | f |
| f | f | f |
| f | f | f |
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G
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| GC | – | gas chromatography |
| GC-MS | GC/MS | gas chromatography-mass spectrometry |
| g | g | g |
| g | g | g |
| g | g | g |
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H
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| HMBC | – | heteronuclear multiple bond correlation |
| HMQC | – | heteronuclear multiple quantum correlation |
| HPLC | – | high performance liquid chromatography |
| HRMS | – | high resolution mass spectrometry |
| HSQC | – | heteronuclear single quantum correlation |
| HOAc | AcOH, CH3COOH | acetic acid |
| h | h | h |
| h | h | h |
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I
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| i-Pr | – | isopropyl |
| i-PrOH | – | isopropanol |
| i | i | i |
| i | i | i |
| i | i | i |
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J
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| j | j | j |
| j | j | j |
| j | j | j |
| j | j | j |
| j | j | j |
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K
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| k | k | k |
| k | k | k |
| k | k | k |
| k | k | k |
| k | k | k |
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L
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| LAH | lithal, LiAlH4 | lithium aluminium hydride |
| l | l | l |
| l | l | l |
| l | l | l |
| l | l | l |
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M
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| MALDI | – | matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation |
| Me | CH3 | methyl group |
| MeOAc | CH3COOMe | methyl acetate |
| MeOH | – | methanol |
| m | m | m |
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N
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| NMR | – | nuclear magnetic resonance |
| NOESY | – | nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy |
| NaOEt | NaOC2H5 | sodium ethoxide |
| NaOMe | NaOCH3 | sodium methoxide |
| n | n | n |
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O
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| OLED | – | organic light emitting diode |
| ORTEP | – | oak-ridge thermal ellipsoid plot |
| o | o | o |
| o | o | o |
| o | o | o |
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P
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| ppb | – | parts per billion |
| ppm | – | parts per million |
| PPTS | – | pyridinium p-toluenesulfonate |
| PSYCHE | – | pure shift yielded by chirp excitation |
| p | p | p |
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Q
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| q | q | q |
| q | q | q |
| q | q | q |
| q | q | q |
| q | q | q |
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R
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| R | – | alkyl/substituent group in general |
| r | r | r |
| r | r | r |
| r | r | r |
| r | r | r |
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S
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| SEC | – | size exclusion chromatography |
| SEM | – | scanning electron microscopy |
| s | s | s |
| s | s | s |
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T
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| t-Bu | tert-Bu | tertiary-butyl group |
| t-BuOH | tert-BuOH | tertiary-butanol |
| t-BuOK | tert-BuOK | potassium tertiary-butoxide |
| TBAF | Bu4NF | tetrabutylammonium fluoride |
| TBDMS | TBS | t-butyldimethylsilyl protecting group |
| TEM | – | transmission electron microscopy |
| TFA | CF3COOH | trifluoroacetic acid |
| THF | – | tetrahydrofuran |
| TIPS | – | triisopropylsilyl protecting group |
| TLC | – | thin layer chromatography |
| TMS | – | trimethylsilyl protecting group |
| TMS (in NMR only) | – | tetramethylsilane |
| TOCSY | – | total correlation spectroscopy |
| t | t | t |
| t | t | t |
| t | t | t |
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U
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| u | u | u |
| u | u | u |
| u | u | u |
| u | u | u |
| u | u | u |
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V
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| VT NMR | – | variable temperature nuclear magnetic resonance |
| v | v | v |
| v | v | v |
| v | v | v |
| v | v | v |
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W
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| w | w | w |
| w | w | w |
| w | w | w |
| w | w | w |
| w | w | w |
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X
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| x | x | x |
| x | x | x |
| x | x | x |
| x | x | x |
| x | x | x |
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Y
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| y | y | y |
| y | y | y |
| y | y | y |
| y | y | y |
| y | y | y |
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Z
| Term or Abbreviation | Also Known As | Description |
| z | z | z |
| z | z | z |
| z | z | z |
| z | z | z |
| z | z | z |
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RetroSynthetiX 