The

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the Word stem, stem of a word. Adding it to the beginning of one word changes it into another word. For example, when the prefix ''un-'' is added to the word ''happy'', it creates the word ''unhappy'' ...

aza- is used in organic chemistry to form names of organic compounds where a carbon atom is replaced by a nitrogen atom. The related term "deaza-" refers to when a nitrogen is removed and, usually, a carbon atom is put in its place. Sometimes a number between hyphens is inserted before it to state which atom the nitrogen atom replaces. It arose by shortening the word

azote Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at sevent ...

, which is an obsolete name for nitrogen in the English language and occurs in current French usage (''azote''), meaning "nitrogen". This prefix is part of the

Hantzsch–Widman nomenclature In organic chemistry, Hantzsch–Widman nomenclature, also called the extended Hantzsch–Widman system (named for Arthur Rudolf Hantzsch and ), is a type of systematic chemical nomenclature used for naming heterocyclic parent hydrides having no ...

.Principles of Chemical Nomenclature, by G.J.Leigh, H.A.Favre and W.W.Metanomski
, at http://old.iupac.org, Table 4.8 While the above figure gives examples of 4-aza steroids, 6-aza steroids have also been developed by GSK, although none of these compounds, as yet, are available for sale commercially.

References

{{Orgchemsuffixes Chemistry prefixes Prefixes

See also

References