N O M E N C L A T U R E

W O R D S ABOUT WORDS

Shortening Strings of Numbers Garson A. Lutz would abbreviate long

series of consecutive numbers in chemical names by connecting the first and last numbers with a dash; for example, instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 he would write 1—7. He also proposes that a series of consecutive odd numbers, for example, 1, 3, 5, 7, be written 1-7°, while the even series 2, 4, 6, 8 would be indicated by 2r- S4'. Use of the dash in indicating consecutive numbers does seem to be a good device where the number of such numerals is more than two or three; G. M. Dyson uses it regularly in his coding sys­tem. Dyson also introduces a further device for nonconsecutive numbers but regularly recurring intervals; instead of 1, 3, 5, 7 he writes 1(2)7 and instead of 2, 6, 10, 14 he writes 2(4)14; in other words, the number denoting the regular increment is inserted in parenthesis be­tween the first and last number of the series. This is a more general device than the ο and e of Lutz. Such abbrevia' *ns are especially useful in systematic names of long-chain isoprenoids. For example, squalene can be named 2(4)10,15(4)23-hexamethyl - 2 ( 4 ) 22 - tetracosahexaene. There are series, however, for which the

AUSTIN M. PATTERSON* above devices offer no help; such as, CHF-.CF-XIF^CFa, or 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nona-fluorobutane. In such cases it has been proposed to indicate the position of the unsubstituted hydrogen rather than that of the nine fluorine atoms and to write the name IH-nonafluorobutane. None of the above methods has yet received official sanction, but they indicate a desire to reduce the number of numerals in a name if this can be done with clearness. The preferences of chemists should be con­sulted, however. Formerly the Chemical Abstracts indexes used but a single num­ber or letter where three groups of the same kind were attached to the same atom; for instance, one entry was butyric acid, 7-trichloro-. Objection of users to this practice has led CA to change to the longer 7,7,7-trichloro-, and so in analogous

When Should Nomenclature Articles Be Published?

The question of publishing papers on nomenclature is troubling both journal editors and nomenclature committees. There are objections to printing such articles in the absence of some sort of official sanction. They usuallv contain

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proposals for new usage, and there is a feeling that "if you see it in print it's so," hence new terms may find their way into use without proper consideration. A com­petent committee can usually make sug­gestions which most authors are glad to accept for the improvement of their pro­posals. In committee work a proposal frequently goes through several drafts before arriving at a generally acceptable form. When it is finally published as the recommendation of a committee or with a committee's endorsement it acquires greater authority, and is much more likely to go into general use than if this process had not taken place.

There are just two hitches, the delay involved and the author's credit. Delay is almost inevitable in committee work, especially as it is usually volunteer and committeemen have many other duties. However, committee work could often be speeded up and there is a clear duty to do this when an outside author has cooperated by submitting a proposal. The question of credit for the author must also be recognized. More than once recently it has happened that while one author's article is being held up in committee -for studs' another author's paper on the same topic is published without committee con­sideration. One possible remedy is an agreement among editors of chemical journals not to publish articles making new nomenclature proposals which have n© authority back of them. The publication committee of the London Cbemical Society has decided not to publish in the society's journal papers dealing solely with nomen­clature proposals. The committee will consider such proposals, however, and if adopted they will be included in the an­nual "Nomenclature Report," with ac­knowledgments to the author. A sugges­tion made in this country for the protec­tion of cooperating authors is that the au­thor names and titles of papers being held in committee be published, with the dates of their submission. This seems worthy of adoption independently of any editorial decisions about the papers themselves.

Those Mystic Letters

In "Words About Words" for Dec. 3 "IUPAC" was used without explaining it, and this in a paragraph about unexplained letter abbreviations! Several readers wrote in about it. It is now clear that ( 1 ) 1 committed a blunder and (2) the column is being read; so my feelings are mixed. Hereafter "International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry" will be given its full form at least once in references to it. This was the original name of the Union; it was shortened to "International Union of Chemistry" (IUC) in 1930 but the longer name was restored in 1949.

4 5 * ^ 30 CHURCH ST: : NtWYORK 7

M A i r VA'iC'.f N't-U.* Y ' O F f iN f kc ι i t es'·.',

420?MAft*ET ST. SAN FRANCISCO Π

M. L. Wolfrom is now chairman of the Committee on Carbohydrate Nomencla­ture of the ACS Sugar Chemistry Division. R. C. Hockett, the previous chairman, re­mains a member. New members a re W. Ward Pigman and Roy L. Whistler.

0 221 North King St., Xenia, Ohio.

460 C H E M I C A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G N E W S

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