nominalinen

Nominalinen is a fictional organic compound commonly used in chemistry education to illustrate nomenclature, reaction mechanism, and synthetic planning. It does not correspond to a real, isolated molecule outside pedagogical contexts, and references appear in textbooks and problem sets as a standard example.

In typical problem-set depictions, nominalinen is described as an aromatic hydrocarbon with a nitrogen-containing side chain. A conventional illustrative structure features a benzene ring with a tertiary amine substituent and an additional alkyl group, yielding a representative molecular formula around C9H11N. Described physical properties in these contexts often include a colorless liquid at room temperature, limited water solubility, and solubility in most organic solvents, with a hypothetical boiling point in the 170–210°C range.

The compound is used to teach how to assign locants and substituent prefixes, select correct functional-group suffixes, and apply rules of priority in IUPAC naming. It also serves as a sandbox for predicting likely reactions, such as electrophilic aromatic substitution on the ring or alkylation of the amine, under simplified conditions.

Origin and status: Nominalinen has no chemical identity in peer-reviewed databases and is widely recognized as a pedagogical placeholder rather than a real substance. Its use highlights conventions of neutral naming and the limits of hypothetical examples in science communication.