Short Notations for Organic Anions

by Axel Drefahl • www.axeleratio.com

Short formula-like notations for organic anions support efficient search of information about anions and their salts. Herein, we demonstrate how to derive such notations for frequently occurring anions from anion class notations by using alkyl group symbols. Such notations can be used in the Chemical Property Viewer to search for information on Ionic Liquids and Solids.

Notations for alkyl-substituted anions are derived by replacing the alkyl group symbol R in a anion class notation by a specific alkyl group symbols as illustrated in the following examples.

Specific Notation Class Notation Name of Specific Anion
BuSO3 RSO3 1-butanesulfate
NnOSO3 ROSO3 1-nonylsulfate
HpCO2 RCO2 n-octanoate

Some other frequently used short notations:

Formula Short Form Name of Anion
CF3CO2 TFA trifluoroacetate
CF3O3S triflate trifluoromethanesulfonate
TfO trifluoromethanesulfonate
C2F6NO4S2 NTf2 bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide
Tf2N bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide
C4F9O6S3 methide tris[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]methide
triflide tris[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]methide
C6H14NO5S BES 2-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]ethane sulfonate
C7H7O3S tosylate 4-methylbenzenesulfonate
C7H14NO5S MOPSO 2-hydroxy-3-(4-morpholino)propane sulfonate
C8H16NO3S CHES 2-(cyclohexylamino)ethane sulfonate

The case-sensitivity of the symbol for (or the first letter of the word) fluorine in acronyms and short notations remains an unresolved mystery, but the above-shown notations occur frequently in the literature and can used this way in Chemical Property Viewer forms.


Last update was made on September 27 in 2008 by Axel Drefahl
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Hint
A similar page for cations is avaiable :
Short Notations for Organic Cations