-yl

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The suffix -yl is used in organic chemistry to form names of radicals, either separate or as chemically bonded parts of molecules. It was extracted from the word methyl, whose etymology is described in Methanol#History.

If there is an organic chemical called "X-ic acid", which has an acidic -OH group, "X-yl" often means the radical formed by removing that -OH group: see acyl.

Sometimes words ending in -yl are used with other meanings as a result of ellipsis, for example "vinyl" properly means the monomer radical -CH=CH₂, but "vinyl" is often used as short for the polymer poly(vinyl chloride).

[edit] Other organic chemical word components

-al: -(CO)H (e.g. aldehyde)
-ane: -C-C- (e.g. alkane)
-ase: enzyme (e.g. amylase)
-ene: -C=C- (e.g. alkene)
-oate: -COOx or -COO^- (e.g. ester)

-oic acid: -COOH (e.g. carboxylic acid)
-ol: -OH (e.g. alcohol)
-one: C=O (e.g. ketone)
-ose: sugar (e.g. glucose)
-yl: radical

-yne: -C≡C- (e.g. alkyne)
alk-: saturated hydrocarbon (e.g. alkane)
ar-: any aromatic compound
aza-: N instead of C
thio-: S (often instead of O)

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