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A primary carbon is a
carbon atom Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes up o ...
which is bound to only one other carbon atom. It is thus at the end of a carbon chain. In case of an
alkane In organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms tha ...
, three hydrogen atoms are bound to a primary carbon (see propane in the figure on the right). A hydrogen atom could also be replaced by a hydroxy group, which would make the molecule a
primary alcohol A primary alcohol is an alcohol in which the hydroxy group is bonded to a primary carbon atom. It can also be defined as a molecule containing a “–CH2OH” group. In contrast, a secondary alcohol has a formula “–CHROH” and a tertiary ...
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Organyl group In organic and organometallic chemistry, an organyl group is an organic substituent with one (sometimes more) free valence(-s) at a carbon atom.. The term is often used in chemical patent literature to protect claims over a broad scope. Exampl ...
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Structural formula The structural formula of a chemical compound is a graphic representation of the molecular structure (determined by structural chemistry methods), showing how the atoms are possibly arranged in the real three-dimensional space. The chemical bond ...
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References

Chemical nomenclature Organic chemistry