Propenyl

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A three-carbon unsaturated chemical group containing a carbon-carbon double bond, found as a substituent in many organic compounds
2. The univalent radical derived from propene, bearing a double bond between two of its three carbon atoms and used in organic chemistry naming
3. An allyl-type hydrocarbon substituent with three carbons and one double bond, appearing in various molecules studied by chemists

Etymology: The chemical stem "prop-" goes back to propionic acid, a three-carbon acid whose name combines Greek "protos", first, and "pion", fat. Chemists used it for a series of compounds with three carbon atoms, and the stem passed into the names of their derivatives. The "-yl" ending comes from Greek "hyle", meaning wood or matter. Chemists attached it to a group of atoms that sits inside a larger molecule rather than standing alone. Propenyl therefore names a three-carbon group, CH3-CH=CH-, built from propene, whose double bond is marked by the "-en-" infix, plus "-yl" for the group.