Pentyl is a five-

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

alkyl group or

substituent A substituent is one or a group of atoms that replaces (one or more) atoms, thereby becoming a moiety in the resultant (new) molecule. (In organic chemistry and biochemistry, the terms ''substituent'' and ''functional group'', as well as ''side ...

with

chemical formula In chemistry, a chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, ...

-C₅H₁₁. It is the substituent form of the

alkane In organic chemistry, an alkane, or paraffin (a historical trivial name that also has other meanings), is an acyclic saturated hydrocarbon. In other words, an alkane consists of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in a tree structure in which ...

pentane Pentane is an organic compound with the formula C5H12—that is, an alkane with five carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of three structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, pentane means exclusively the ' ...

. In older literature, the common non-systematic name amyl was often used for the pentyl group. Conversely, the name pentyl was used for several five-carbon branched alkyl groups, distinguished by various prefixes. The nomenclature has now reversed, with "amyl" being more often used to refer to the terminally branched group also called isopentyl, as in amobarbital. A

cyclopentyl Cyclopentane (also called C pentane) is a highly flammable alicyclic hydrocarbon with chemical formula C5H10 and CAS number 287-92-3, consisting of a ring of five carbon atoms each bonded with two hydrogen atoms above and below the plane. It occu ...

group is a ring with the formula -C₅H₉. The name is also used for the pentyl radical, a pentyl group as an isolated molecule. This free radical is only observed in extreme conditions. Its formula is often written "•" or "• ⁠" to indicate that it has one unsatisfied valence bond.

Older "pentyl" groups

The following names are still used sometimes:

Pentyl radical

The free radical pentyl was studied by J. Pacansky and A. Gutierrez in 1983. The radical was obtained by exposing bishexanoyl peroxide trapped in frozen

argon Argon is a chemical element with the symbol Ar and atomic number 18. It is in group 18 of the periodic table and is a noble gas. Argon is the third-most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere, at 0.934% (9340 ppmv). It is more than twice as abu ...

ultraviolet light Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...

, that caused its decomposition into two

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

() molecules and two pentyl radicals.

Examples

Pentanol An amyl alcohol is any of eight alcohols with the formula C5H12O. A mixture of amyl alcohols (also called amyl alcohol) can be obtained from fusel alcohol. Amyl alcohol is used as a solvent and in esterification, by which is produced amyl acetate a ...

* Pentyl pentanoate * Amylamine * Amyl acetate * Amyl alcohol * Amylmetacresol *

Isoamyl acetate Isoamyl acetate, also known as isopentyl acetate, is an organic compound that is the ester formed from isoamyl alcohol and acetic acid, with the molecular formula C7H14O2.It is a colorless liquid that is only slightly soluble in water, but very s ...

* Isoamyl alcohol

References

{{Functional group Alkyl groups