School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London,
Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK
g.p.moss@qmul.ac.uk
The full text and structural formulae of the following nomenclature recommendations are available.
IUPAC Glossary of class names of organic compounds and reactive intermediates based on structure. Recommendations 1995, Pure Appl. Chem., 1995 67, 1307-1375.
IUPAC Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry. Recommendations 1994, Pure Appl. Chem., 1994, 66, 1077-1184.
IUPAC Basic terminology of stereochemistry. Recommendations 1996, Pure Appl. Chem., 1996, 68, 2193-2222.
IUPAC Nomenclature of fused ring and bridged fused ring systems. Recommendations 1998, Pure Appl. Chem., 1998, 70, 143-216.
IUPAC Extension and Revision of the von Baeyer System for Naming Polycyclic Compounds (Including Bicyclic Compounds). Recommendations 1999, Pure Appl. Chem., 1999, 71, 513-529.
IUPAC Extension and Revision of the Nomenclature for Spiro Compounds. Recommendations 1999, Pure Appl. Chem., 1999, 71, 531-558.
IUPAC Phane Nomenclature, Part I: Phane Parent Names. Recommendations 1998, Pure Appl. Chem., 1998, 70, 1513-1545.
IUPAC Revision of the extended Hantzsch-Widman system of nomenclature for heteromonocycles. Recommendations 1982, Pure Appl. Chem., 1983, 55, 409-416.
IUPAC Treatment of variable valence in organic nomenclature (lambda convention). Recommendations 1983, Pure Appl. Chem., 1984, 56, 769-778.
IUPAC Nomenclature for cyclic organic compounds with formal contiguous double bonds (the ![[delta]](greek/DELTA.GIF)
-convention). Recommendations 1988, Pure Appl. Chem., 1988, 60, 1395-1401.
IUPAC Extension of rules A-1.1 and A-2.5 concerning numerical terms used in organic chemical nomenclature. Recommendations 1986, Pure Appl. Chem., 1986, 58, 1693-1696 [numerical terms to 9999].
IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry, Section F: Natural Products and Related Compounds. Recommendations 1999, Pure Appl. Chem., 1999, 71, 587-643. Corrections and Modifications (2004), Pure Appl. Chem., 2004, 76, 1283-1292.
IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry, Section H: Isotopically Modified Compounds. Recommendations 1978, Pure Appl. Chem., 1979, 51, 353-380.
IUPAC Glossary of terms used in bioinorganic chemistry. Recommendations 1997, Pure Appl. Chem., 1997, 69, 1251-1303.
IUPAC Glossary of terms used in medicinal chemistry. Recommendations 1998, Pure Appl. Chem., 1998, 70, 1129-1143.
IUPAC Revised nomenclature for radicals, ions, radical ions and related species. Pure Appl. Chem., 1993, 65, 1357-1455.
IUPAC Corrections to 'A Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Compounds, Recommendations1993' Pure Appl. Chem., 1999, 71, 1327-1330.
IUPAC Nomenclature for the C60-Ih and C70-D5h(6) Fullerenes.IUPAC Recommendations 2002, Pure Appl. Chem., 2002, 74, 629-695.
IUPAC Phane nomenclature. Part II. Modification of the degree of hydrogenation and substitution derivatives of phane parent hydrides. IUPAC Recommendations 2002, Pure Appl. Chem., 2002, 74, 809-834.
IUPAC Nomenclature of Regular Single-Strand Organic Polymers (IUPAC Recommendations 2002) Pure Appl. Chem., 2002, 74, 1921-1956.
IUPAC Numbering of Fullerenes (IUPAC Recommendations 2004), Pure Appl. Chem., 2005, 77, 843-923.
IUPAC Brief Guides to Chemical Nomenclature New [polymers, inorganic, organic]
IUPAC Gold Book Compendium of Chemical Terminology, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Second edition, 1997. Edited by A D McNaught and A Wilkinson [ISBN 0-8-654-26848].
IUPAC 2021 values for atomic weights based on Pure Appl. Chem., 2022, 94; also Periodic Table.
IUPAC Graphical Representation Standards for Chemical Structure Diagramss (IUPAC Recommendations 2008), Pure Appl. Chem., 2008, 80, 277-410. Also available in PDF format.
IUPAC Graphic Representation of Stereochemical Configuration (IUPAC Recommendations 2006), Pure Appl. Chem., 2006, 78, 1897-1970.
Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry – IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013, web version with all changes and corrections incorporated, also the corresponding PDF.
WWW version of IUPAC IUBMB recommendations from the
Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature
Amino acids, peptides and proteins
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of Amino Acids and Peptides published in Biochem. J., 1984, 219, 345-373; Eur. J. Biochem., 1984, 138, 9-37; 1985, 152, 1; Internat. J. Pept. Prot. Res., 1984, 24, following p 84; J. Biol. Chem., 1985, 260, 14-42; Pure Appl. Chem., 1984, 56, 595-624; Amino Acids and Peptides, 1985, 16, 387-410; and in Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 39-67.
IUPAC-IUB Abbreviations and Symbols for the Description of the Conformation of Polypeptide Chains. Tentative Rules (1969), Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 1971, 145, 405-421; Biochem. J., 1971, 121, 577-585; Biochemistry, 1971, 9, 3471-3479; Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1971, 229, 1-17; Eur. J. Biochem., 1969, 17, 193-201; J. Biol. Chem., 1970, 245, 6489-6497; J. Mol. Biol., 1970, 52, 1-17; Pure Appl. Chem., 1974, 40, 291-308; and in Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 73-81.
IUPAC-IUB Abbreviated nomenclature of synthetic polypeptides - Polymerised amino acids (1971), Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 1972, 151, 597-602; Biochem. J., 1972, 127, 753-756; Biochemistry, 1972, 11, 942-944; Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1972, 278, 211-217; Biopolymers, 1972, 11, 321-327; Eur. J. Biochem., 1972, 26, 301-304; J. Biol. Chem., 1972, 247, 323-325; Pure Appl. Chem., 1978, 33, 437-444; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 70-72.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of peptide hormones (1974), Biochem. J., 1975, 151, 1-4; Biochemistry, 1975, 14, 2559-2560; Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1975, 404, 152-155; Eur. J. Biochem., 1975, 55, 485-486; J. Biol. Chem., 1975, 250, 3215-3216; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 82-83.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of glycoproteins, glycopeptides and peptidoglycans. Recommendations 1985, Eur. J. Biochem., 1986, 159, 1-6; 1989, 185, 485;Glycoconjugate J., 1986, 3, 123-134; J. Biol. Chem., 1987, 262, 13-18; Pure Appl. Chem., 1988, 60, 1389-1394; Amino Acids and Peptides, 1990, 21, 329-334; and in Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 84-89.
Carbohydrates, cyclitols, etc
IUPAC-IUBMB Nomenclature of Carbohydrates. Recommendations 1996, Adv. Carbohydr. Chem. Biochem., 1997, 52, 43-177; Carbohydr. Res., 1997, 297, 1-90; J. Carbohydr. Chem., 1997, 16, 1191-1280; Pure Appl. Chem. 1996, 68, 1919-2008.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of cyclitols (1973), Biochem. J., 1976, 153, 23-31; Eur. J. Biochem., 1975, 57, 1-7; Pure Appl. Chem., 1974, 37, 283-297; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 149-155.
IUPAC-IUB Symbols for Specifying the Conformation of Polysaccharide Chains. Recommendations 1981, Eur. J. Biochem., 1983, 131, 5-7; Pure Appl. Chem., 1983, 55, 1269-1272; and in Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 177-179.
IUPAC-IUBMB Nomenclature of glycolipids. Recommendations 1997, Carbohydr. Res., 1998, 312, 167-175; Eur. J. Biochem., 1998, 257, 293-298; Pure Appl. Chem., 1997, 69, 2475-2487.
See also Nomenclature of glycoproteins, glycopeptides and peptidoglycans. Recommendations 1985, list above.
See also Numbering of atoms in myo-inositol. Recommendations 1988, listed below.
Lipids, etc
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of lipids (1976), Biochem. J., 1978, 171, 21-35; Chem. Phys. Lipids, 1978, 21, 159-173; Eur. J. Biochem., 1977, 79, 11-21; Hoppe-Seyler's Z. Physiol. Chem., 1977, 358, 617-631; J. Lipid Res., 1978, 19, 114-128; Lipids, 1977, 12, 455-468; Mol. Cell. Biochem., 1977, 17, 157-171; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 180-190.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of steroids, Recommendations 1989, Eur. J. Biochem., 1989, 186, 429-458; 1993, 213, 2; Pure Appl. Chem., 1989, 61, 1783-1822; Dictionary of Steroids (Hill, R.A., Kirk, D.N., Makin, H.L.J. and Murphy, G.M., eds) Chapman and Hall, London, 1991, pp xxx-lix; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 192-221.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of vitamin D. Recommendations 1981, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1982, 218, 342-346; Endokrinol. Inform., 1982(2), 53-62; Eur. J. Biochem., 1982, 124, 223-227; Mol. Cell. Biochem., 1982, 49, 177-181; Pure Appl. Chem., 1982, 54, 1511-1516; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 242-246.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of carotenoids (1970) and amendments (1974), Biochem. J., 1972, 127, 741-752; 1975, 151, 5-7; Biochemistry, 1971, 10, 4827-4837; 1975, 14, 1803; Eur. J. Biochem., 1972, 25, 397-408; 1975, 57, 317-318; J. Biol. Chem., 1972, 247, 2633-2643; Pure Appl. Chem., 1975, 41, 405-431; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 226-238.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of retinoids. Recommendations 1981, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1983, 224, 728-731; Eur. J. Biochem., 1982, 129, 1-5; J. Biol. Chem., 1983, 258, 5329-5333; Pure Appl. Chem., 1983, 55, 721-726; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 247-251.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of tocopherols and related compounds. Recommendations 1981, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1982, 218, 347-348; Eur. J. Biochem., 1982, 123, 473-475; Mol. Cell. Biochem., 1982, 49, 183-185; Pure Appl. Chem., 1982, 54, 1507-1510; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 239-241.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of prenols. Recommendations 1986, Eur. J. Biochem., 1987, 167, 181-184; J. Biol. Chem., 1988, 263, 601-604; Pure Appl. Chem., 1987, 59, 683-689; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 252-255.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of Phosphorus-Containing Compounds of Biochemical Importance Recommendations 1976, Biochem. J., 1978, 171, 1-19; Eur. J. Biochem., 1977, 79, 1-9; Hoppe-Seyler's Z. Physiol. Chem., 1977, 358, 599-616; Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 1977, 74, 2222-2230; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 256-264.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of quinones with isoprenoid side chains (1973), Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1974, 165, 1-5; Biochem. J., 1975, 147, 15-21; Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1975, 387, 397-401; Eur. J. Biochem., 1975, 53, 15-18; Pure Appl. Chem., 1974, 38, 439-447; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 222-225.
See also Nomenclature of glycolipids. Recommendations 1997, listed above.
Nucleotides, nucleic acids, etc
IUPAC-IUB Abbreviations and symbols for nucleic acids, polynucleotides and their constituents (1970), Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 1971, 145, 425-436; Biochem. J., 1971, 120, 449-454; Biochemistry, 1971, 9, 4022-4027; Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1971, 247, 1-12; Eur. J. Biochem., 1970, 15, 203-208; 1972, 25, 1; J. Biol. Chem., 1970, 245, 5171-5176; J. Mol. Biol., 1971, 55, 299-310; Pure Appl. Chem., 1974, 40, 277-290; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 109-114.
IUPAC-IUB Abbreviations and Symbols for the Description of Conformations of Polynucleotide Chains. Recommendations 1982, Eur. J. Biochem., 1983, 131, 9-15; Proceedings of the 16th Jerusalen Symposium "Nucleic Acids, the Vectors of Life" (edited B Pullman and J Jortner) 1983, 559-565; Pure Appl. Chem., 1983, 55, 1273-1280; and in Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 115-121.
See also Nomenclature for Incompletely Specified Bases in Nucleic Acid Sequences Recommendations 1984 listed below.
See also A nomenclature of junctions and branchpoints in nucleic acids, recommendations 1994 listed below.
Miscellaneous
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature for Vitamins B-6 and Related Compounds. Recommendations 1973, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1974, 162, 1-5; Biochem. J., 1974, 137, 417-421; Biochemistry, 1974, 13, 1056-1058; Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1974, 354, 155-159; Eur. J. Biochem., 1973, 40, 325-327; Pure Appl. Chem., 1973, 33, 445-452; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 269-271.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature of corrinoids (1973), Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1974, 161(2), iii-xi; Biochem. J., 1975, 147, 1-10; Biochemistry, 1974, 13, 1555-1560; Eur. J. Biochem., 1974, 45, 7-12; Pure Appl. Chem., 1976, 48, 495-502; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 272-277.
IUPAC-IUB The nomenclature of tetrapyrroles. Recommendations 1986, Eur. J. Biochem., 1988, 178, 277-328; Pure Appl. Chem., 1987, 59, 779-832; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 278-329.
IUPAC-IUB Nomenclature and symbols for folic acid and related compounds. Recommendations 1986, Eur. J. Biochem., 1987, 168, 251-253; J. Biol. Chem., 1987, 263, 605-607; Pure Appl. Chem., 1987, 59, 833-836; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 266-268.
IUPAC-IUBMB Recommendations for nomenclature and tables in biochemical thermodynamics. Recommendations 1994, Eur. J. Biochem., 1996, 240, 1-14; 242, 433; Pure Appl. Chem. 1994, 66, 1641-1666. Draft revised version: Recommendations for Terminology and Databases for Biochemical Thermodynamics (Recommendations 2009)
IUPAC-IUBMB Nomenclature of Lignans and Neolignans Recommendations 2000, Pure Appl. Chem., 2000, 72, 1493-1523.
IUPAC-IUBMB Nomenclature of Flavonoids Recommendations 2017, Pure Appl. Chem., 2018, 90(9), 1429-1486.
See also Nomenclature of electron-transport proteins. Recommendations 1989 listed below.
Newsletters
Extracts from IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletters 1980-1992
Newsletter 1996, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1997, 344, 242-252; Biochem. Educ., 1998, 26, 30-33; Biochem. J., 1997, 327, 311-319; Biochem. Mol. Biol. Internat., 1997, 43, 1151-1156; Chem. Internat., 1997, 19, 116-119; Eur. J. Biochem., 1997, 247, 733-739; Folia Microbiol., 1998, 43, 3-6; J. Mol. Biol., 1998, 275, 527-537.
IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletter 1999, Eur. J. Biochem., 1999, 264, 607-609.
IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletter 2004
IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletter 2009
IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletter 2016
IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletter 2017
IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletter 2018
IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletter 2020
IUPAC-IUBMB Newsletter 2023
WWW version of IUBMB documents
IUB Numbering of atoms in myo-inositol. Recommendations 1988, Biochem.J., 1989, 258, 1-2; Eur. J. Biochem., 1989, 180, 485-486; Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 156-157.
IUB Nomenclature for Incompletely Specified Bases in Nucleic Acid Sequences Recommendations 1984, Biochem. J., 1985, 229, 281-286; Eur. J. Biochem., 1985, 150, 1-5; J. Biol. Chem., 1986, 261, 13-17; Mol. Biol. Evol., 1986, 3, 99-108; Nucl. Acids Res., 1985, 13, 3021-3030; Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (U. S.), 1986, 83, 4-8; and in Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 122-126.
IUB Nomenclature of electron-transport proteins. Recommendations 1989, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1991, 1060, vii-xix; Eur. J. Biochem., 1991, 200, 599-611 (correction 1993, 213, 2-3); J. Biol. Chem. 1992, 267, 665-677; Enzyme Nomenclature 1992, p. 534-561.
IUBMB Membrane Transport Proteins. Recommendations 2002. (electronic only)
IUBMB Enzyme Nomenclature. Recommendations 1992
List of recommended names :
EC 1.1 to EC 1.3 and EC 1.4 to EC 1.97 (oxidoreductases)Full details for:
EC 2.1 to EC 2.4.1 and EC 2.4.2 to EC 2.9 (transferases)
EC 3.1 to EC 3.3 and EC 3.4 to EC 3.12 (hydrolases)
EC 4 (lyases)
EC 5 (isomerases)
EC 6 (ligases)
EC 7 (translocases)
EC 1 oxidoreductasesSupplements:
EC 2 transferases
EC 3 hydrolases
EC 4 lyases
EC 5 isomerases
EC 6 ligases
EC 7 translocases
Supplement 1 (1993) (Eur. J. Biochem., 1994 223, 1-5)Proposed additional new enzymes and corrections. New July 2024
Supplement 2 (1994) (Eur. J. Biochem., 1995 232, 1-6)
Supplement 3 (1995) (Eur. J. Biochem., 1996 237, 1-5)
Supplement 4 (1997) (Eur. J. Biochem., 1997, 250, 1-6)
Supplement 5 (1999) (Eur. J. Biochem., 1999, 264, 610-650)
Supplement 6 (2000)
Supplement 7 (2001)
Supplement 8 (2002)
Supplement 9 (2003)
Supplement 10 (2004)
Supplement 11 (2005)
Supplement 12 (2006)
Supplement 13 (2007)
Supplement 14 (2008)
Supplement 15 (2009)
Supplement 16 (2010)
Supplement 17 (2011)
Supplement 18 (2012)
Supplement 19 (2013)
Supplement 20 (2014)
Supplement 21 (2015)
Supplement 22 (2016)
Supplement 23 (2017)
Supplement 24 (2018)
Supplement 25 (2019)
Supplement 26 (2020)
Supplement 27 (2021)
Supplement 28 (2022)
Supplement 29 (2023)
Supplement 30 (2024)
Reaction diagrams are available for many enzymes
IUB Nomenclature of multienzymes. Recommendations 1989, Eur. J. Biochem., 1989, 185, 485-486; and in Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 107-108.
IUB Nomenclature of Multiple Forms of Enzymes. Recommendations 1976, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1978, 185, 1-3; Biochem. J., 1978, 171, 37-39; Eur. J. Biochem., 1978, 82,1-3; J. Biol. Chem., 1977, 252, 5939-5941; and in Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pp 93-95.
IUB Symbolism and terminology in enzyme kinetics. Recommendations 1981, Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 1983, 224, 732-740; Biochem. J., 1983, 213, 561-571; Eur. J. Biochem., 1982, 128, 281-291 (correction 1993, 213, 1); Biochemical Nomenclature and Related Documents, 2nd edition, Portland Press, 1992, pages 96-106.
IUBMB A nomenclature of junctions and branchpoints in nucleic acids, recommendations 1994, Eur. J. Biochem., 1995, 230, 1-2; J. Mol. Biol.. 1996, 255, 554-555; Nucleic Acid Res.. 1995, 23, 3363-3364.
For details of documents converted see "What's Here and What's New".
A Map of Usage Statistics shows the number of records per million population from 234 countries based on about 13800000 records from February 1996 to January 2013. There is a world map and a more detailed map of Europe, detailed statistics by document for each complete year, and by country.
List of IUPAC nomenclature recommendations and related documents.
List of IUPAC books on nomenclature recommendations and related documents.
Contents, further details, other versions of the documents and translations:
Biochemical Nomenclature and Related DocumentsIUPAC Corrections to 'A Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry, Recommendations1993' Pure Appl. Chem., 1999, 71, 1327-1330.
Compendium of Macromolecular Nomenclature
Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry, Sections A, B, C, D, E, F, and H
A Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry
List of chemical nomenclature recommendations and related documents:
IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry and other organic recommendations.
IUPAC-IUBMB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature and the IUBMB Nomenclature Committee.
IUPAC recommendations from the Commission on Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry and other inorganic recommendations.
IUPAC recommendations from the Commission on Macromolecular Nomenclature
The IUPAC official journal Pure and Applied Chemistry with PDF files for all volumes from volume 1 (1960).
The IUPAC official news journal Chemistry International also PDF file of text
Details of Provisional IUPAC nomenclature recommendations
For further information on IUPAC see:
Change to IUBMB Nomenclature Home Page for biochemical nomenclature.