Division VIII

Chemical Nomenclature and Structure Representation

Report to IUPAC Bureau, Bratislava, April 2018

Submitted by Prof Alan Hutton, Division President

I. Highlights/Executive Summary

The activities of Division VIII are closely aligned with IUPAC’s Mission Statement, namely
to “provide objective scientific expertise and develop the essential tools for the application
and communication of chemical knowledge for the benefit of humankind and the world.”
Several new projects have been initiated and approved since the last report, of which one
(Alignment of principles for specifying ligands and substituent groups across various areas
of nomenclature) has already produced a draft report of some significance, in that this project
provides overarching recommendations that now allow completion of several projects in
different states of progress. One such longstanding project (Boron hydride nomenclature) has
since been finalised and submitted to ICTNS for review, and it is expected that the other
projects mentioned in Section III below will now be more rapidly concluded.
Other key priorities are to initiate a new edition of “The Red Book” (Nomenclature of
Inorganic Chemistry, IUPAC Recommendations 2005), continue with the revision and further
development of the recommendations in “The Blue Book” (Nomenclature of Organic
Chemistry, IUPAC Recommendations and preferred names 2013), finalise and publish the
organic version of the Brief Guides series, as well as several other projects that are nearing
completion, as highlighted in Section III.
Continued collaboration with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) will
take place in initiating a project working towards appropriate nomenclature for nanoparticles,
and our support for the work of the InChI Subcommittee is ongoing.
The next meeting of the Division Committee, along with various Task Group Meetings, will
be over the period 10–14 August 2018 in Basel, Switzerland.

II. Plans and priorities for remainder of this biennium and beyond

Probably the most significant recent advance, right at the end of the last biennium, was the
draft report of the Alignment of principles for specifying ligands and substituent groups
across various areas of nomenclature project, details of which are given in Section III
(below). As a result of this three-day meeting in London in November 2017, the basis has
been laid for the completion of several interlinked projects, as several overarching principles
were established in that meeting (and in subsequent discussion) that should now enable rapid
progress. Already the boron hydride nomenclature project has been submitted to ICTNS, and
a priority for this biennium will be to apply the outcomes of that meeting to complete the
projects on metallacycle nomenclature, preferred names for inorganic compounds (this means
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primarily the specification of ligating atoms in coordination compounds – the kappa

document), and the Blue Book extension and revision.
A key project to initiate in this biennium, and which will extend well into the next biennium,
is to publish a new, updated version of “The Red Book”, Nomenclature of Inorganic
Chemistry, IUPAC Recommendations 2005. This will be a major undertaking and the Task
Group Chair and Members will have to be chosen with care. Completely new chapters on
solids, boron hydrides, organometallic compounds and other topics are envisaged; fortunately
several currently extant projects will feed directly into the new book. This endeavour will
probably be funded initially as several smaller projects, culminating in a final project to
compile and edit the final book. We hope to have a draft plan for this major undertaking in
place before this year’s Division Committee Meeting.
Priority will be given to work on the revision of “The Blue Book” (Nomenclature of Organic
Chemistry, IUPAC Recommendations and preferred names 2013). Thus far the work on
systematically collating the list of corrections has revealed further areas where additional
discussion, unification and even extension are needed. Some of these matters have already
been given a sound basis by the discussions, agreements and decisions made during the
Alignment Project meeting in London in November 2017.
We have had a liaison with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for the
past couple of years. This resulted in a project (2013-056-1-800) which produced a first draft
with approaches towards a nomenclature for carbon nanotubes and related nanomaterials. The
project task group is composed of experts in the area selected by the ISO Technical
Committee (TC 229) working in this area and nomenclature experts from Division VIII. It is
a priority for this biennium to pursue this liaison further, and to initiate a project on the
development of nomenclature for nanoparticles, an area of significant importance for ISO.
Initially, it is proposed that a project on metal cluster nomenclature be initiated, to see if this
can be extended to nanoparticles. The conclusion of the scoping meeting with ISO
representatives in London in 2015 was that such nomenclature may well have to be InChI-
based.

Several long-running projects are nearing completion (these are itemised in Section III,
below) and it will be a priority in this biennium to bring these to a conclusion.
The off-year Division Committee Meeting is planned to be held in Basel, Switzerland, on 13
and 14 August 2018, with Task Group Meetings being held over the preceding three days
(10–12 August). We are also starting to plan for the GA in Paris in 2019 and have established
the need for funding for the InChI Subcommittee to meet there, as it has been more than eight
years since they last met as a formal committee.

III. Overall report of Division activities and achievements during 2016-2017 biennium
organized by the Goals and Objectives laid out in the current IUPAC Strategic Plan

GOALS

Provide scientific expertise to address critical world needs

A full list of currently active projects can be found in Section IV (below). These provide the
scientific expertise to name chemical substances – whether this addresses a critical world
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need is debateable, but it is certainly at the core of IUPAC activities, and is most likely the
one most frequently associated with IUPAC. Certainly, for the international exchange of
goods, and in particular chemicals, an unambiguous and global nomenclature and
classification is a critical requirement for transportation and import/export authorities.
Since the last report several new projects have been initiated and approved:

 Revision and integration of the carbohydrate related recommendations on

Glycoconjugates and Glycoinformatics (Chair: Vliegenthart). This is an extension
of a previous project which has made substantial progress, but the extent of the
undertaking was clearly underestimated in the original proposal and there are
currently several strands which need to be drawn together to provide an
authoritative, integrated and overarching document.

 Alignment of principles for specifying ligands and substituent groups across various
areas of nomenclature (Chair: Hellwich). This project intends to provide the basis
for completion of several projects with different states of progress:
- Boron hydride nomenclature (2012-045-1-800)
- Metallacycles nomenclature (2013-030-1-800)
- Preferred names for inorganic compounds (kappa document) (2006-038-1-
800)
- Blue Book revision and extension (2015-052-1-800)
by reaching a consensus on
- the grouping of substituents or ligands with different kinds of modifications
- the alphabetical order of substituents or ligands with different kinds of
modifications
- the positioning of locants in chemical names
- the positioning of kappa terms in chemical names
The project comprised one meeting held in London in November 2017 and has thus
far resulted in a draft report; the intention is to publish an article in Chemistry
International and possibly a Recommendation in PAC. Already a successful
outcome of the project is that as a result of the decisions made at the meeting the
document on boron hydride nomenclature could be finalised and has now been
submitted to ICTNS for review.

 Graphical representation standards for chemical reaction diagrams (Chair: Taylor).

This project will provide a single, comprehensive set of guidelines for creating
chemical reaction diagrams in printed and in electronic media. The
recommendations will incorporate and complement previous IUPAC projects on
graphical representation standards.

 Graphical representation of polymer structures (Chair: Hellwich). This project

intends to provide a single and comprehensive set of guidelines for the graphical
representation of polymer structures, again incorporating and complementing the
work done in previous projects.
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Several projects are in the final stages of preparation:

 Boron hydride nomenclature. As mentioned above, as a result of the Alignment

Project meeting in London in November 2017 this document has been finalised and
submitted to ICTNS for review.

 Nomenclature of Flavonoids. The second set of page proofs has been checked, but the
number and nature of corrections to be done by the typesetter will require another set
of proofs before the document can finally be published.

 A document on Nomenclature and terminology of dendrimers and hyperbranched

polymers has undergone review by ICTNS and the public. The revised version needs
only a final check before being submitted for publication.

 Hyphenation of chemical names. This document, which addresses the needs expressed
in discussions with De Gruyter’s production department, is being finalised for
Division review.

 Inorganic and organic Brief Guides. The inorganic Brief Guide was published in
2015 and the organic version is nearly complete.

 Nomenclature and terminology for lactic acid-based polymers (administered through

Division IV) is about to be submitted for review by ICTNS and the public.

 A concise guide to polymer nomenclature for authors of papers and reports in

polymer science and technology (administered through Division IV) is close to
submission for ICTNS and public review.

The following projects were completed during the last biennium:

 Source-based nomenclature for single-strand homopolymers and copolymers (IUPAC

Recommendations 2016), Pure Appl. Chem. 88(10 – 11), 1073 – 1100 (2016).

 Comprehensive glossary of terms used in toxicology (a Division VII project) contains

a nomenclature appendix edited by Division VIII members.

 Preferred names of constitutional units for use in structure-based names of polymers.

Published in PAC in November 2017 (see list of publications in Section IV).

The Division continues to support the development of the International Chemical Identifier
(InChI). The Subcommittee on the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier is the body
responsible for the scientific activities supported by the InChI Trust. It reports to Division
VIII and to the Committee on Publications and Cheminformatics Data Standards (CPCDS,
formerly CPEP). This activity addresses the critical world need for chemical information to
be codified and digitized.
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Increase the value of our products and services

By condensing the essential elements of chemical nomenclature into the “Brief Guides”
(Polymer, Inorganic, and soon to be completed Organic), we are increasing the value of our
efforts in nomenclature by making them available in simplified form to students and authors.
Revisiting and revising existing IUPAC nomenclature principles and rules as the science of
chemistry develops and new systems are discovered clearly increases the value of our
endeavours.

Improve the vitality, effectiveness and efficiency of our Union

One aspect of efficiency is certainly if new project task groups and in particular task group
chairs familiarise themselves with relevant existing IUPAC guidelines and recommendations
and apply them early on in new drafts. The goal must be consistency and uniformity between
the different disciplines within chemistry and IUPAC.

OBJECTIVES

Brand IUPAC in the minds of stakeholders

and

Improve quality and frequency of communication with stakeholders

Several of the publications listed in Section IV (below) are in Chemistry International and
provide communication channels both within the IUPAC community and to the larger
stakeholder base. Often the articles in Chemistry International trigger users to consult the
latest Recommendations as published in PAC, or to turn to the latest edition of any of the
“Colour Books”.
Distribution of the “Brief Guides” at conferences and to students and schools and
universities, either in hard or electronic copy, also fulfils this objective, as does the
presentation of posters on nomenclature at conferences – this has been done recently for both
the Inorganic Brief Guide and Boron Hydride projects. Our objective of having publishers
reproduce the “Brief Guides” in their text books is slowly being realised, and Pearson has
recently agreed to include the Inorganic Brief Guide as a fold-out in the upcoming 5th edition
of Inorganic Chemistry by Housecroft and Sharpe.
Division VIII is currently supporting and contributing to the budget of two International Year
of the Periodic Table projects which will contribute strongly to IUPAC branding and
communication.

Increase revenue
No input here unless IUPAC receives royalties from the sale of our “Colour Books”. Some
revenue may be realised indirectly by our distribution of the “Brief Guide” series which
references (with hyperlinks) the IUPAC publications.
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Expand and retain member and volunteer base with an emphasis on diversity and
inclusion

The current Division VIII Committee (see table of membership in Section IV below) of 26
elected or appointed members comprises 16 males and 10 females (TMs: 7 male, 3 female;
AMs: 3 male, 3 female; NRs: 6 male, 4 female) and there is a reasonable geographical
spread, though amongst the TMs and AMs the members are mainly based in Europe or the
USA. This is probably a reflection of where the expertise in chemical nomenclature has
traditionally resided, and efforts must be made to recruit and train members from, in
particular, the Far East, Australasia, South America and Africa. We are fortunate to have
Committee Members not only from academia, but also from research institutions, the
industrial sector, as well as CAS and CCDC.

Enhance interdivisional interaction and collaboration

Members of Division VIII have been involved in projects administered through the Inorganic
Chemistry Division, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry Division, and Polymer Division,
as well as the IUBMB-IUPAC Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (JCBN).
Such collaboration with other Divisions and also other organisations is essential and
functionally important, because work on nomenclature must necessarily progress through
interactions of nomenclature specialists with discipline specialists. Currently several Division
VIII Committee members are also members of the Subcommittee on Polymer Terminology,
others are involved in projects administered through Division IV, and three Division
Committee members (besides the JCBN Chairman who is an ex officio member of our
Division Committee) are also Associate Members of JCBN. There is also cross-membership
with Division III. Division VIII looks forward to further cross-fertilisation of ideas and
activities through these interactions.
Most recently an initiative has been started towards a closer collaboration with CPCDS
because of the overlap of interests and responsibilities in the area of structure representation.
In this regard an initiative to develop jointly a Unicode character set for chemistry has been
proposed to CPCDS.

Emphasize multidisciplinary projects addressing critical global issues

Further development of the International Chemical Identifier (InChI) involves computer

scientists and information specialists. The Division has also been developing closer contacts
with organisations which are or will be users of chemical nomenclature. Links with the
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) resulted in a challenging and yet
promising project on developing nomenclature for carbon nanotubes and related
nanomaterials. Preparations for another project with a similar collaboration on metal clusters
are under way. Recently established contacts with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data
Centre (CCDC) and the European Patent Office offer further avenues for multidisciplinary
projects.
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Support chemistry education, particularly in developing countries

The Brief Guide to the Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry has four pages and was
published in Pure and Applied Chemistry in October 2015. It is aimed at advanced high
school pupils or early undergraduate students, as well as a handy reference for postgraduate
researchers. Its success can be judged from the fact that translations of this document into
several languages have already been completed. Reprints and posters have also been prepared
for distribution and presentation at relevant conferences or congresses. The publishing house
Pearson has agreed to include it as a fold-out in the upcoming 5th edition of Inorganic
Chemistry by Housecroft and Sharpe.
A similar four-page Brief Guide to the Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry is in the final
stages of completion. These Brief Guides should be thought of as quick references, and can
easily be republished or included in Author Guidelines and textbooks.
Division VIII is currently supporting and contributing to the budget of two International Year
of the Periodic Table projects which will have obvious impact on chemistry education.

Acknowledgement
The help and advice of current Division VIII Past-President Karl-Heinz Hellwich and
Division Secretary Risto Laitinen in the compilation of this report is gratefully
acknowledged.
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IV. Tabular material

1. DIVISION VIII MEMBERSHIP 2018 – 2019

Name Status Term NAO

Prof. Alan T. Hutton President 2018-2021 South Africa
Prof. Risto S. Laitinen Secretary 2016-2019 Finland
Dr. Karl-Heinz Hellwich Past President 2018-2019 Germany
Prof. Michael A. Beckett TM 2018-2019 United Kingdom
Prof. Edwin Constable TM 2018-2019 Switzerland
Dr. Ture Damhus TM 2018-2019 Denmark
Prof. Robin T. Macaluso TM 2018-2019 USA
Prof. Ebbe Nordlander TM 2018-2019 Sweden
Prof. Amélia Pilar Rauter TM 2018-2019 Portugal
Dr. Michelle Monnens Rogers TM 2018-2019 USA

Dr. Elisabeth Mansfield AM 2018-2019 USA

Prof. József Nagy AM 2018-2019 Hungary
Molly A. Strausbaugh AM 2018-2019 USA
Dr. Keith T. Taylor AM 2018-2019 USA
Dr. Clare A. Tovee AM 2018-2019 United Kingdom
Prof. Jiří Vohlídal AM 2018-2019 Czech Republic

Dr. Fabio Aricò NR 2018-2019 Italy

Prof. Neil Burford NR 2018-2019 Canada
Prof. Ana Maria da Costa Ferreira NR 2018-2019 Brazil
Prof. Safiye Erdem NR 2018-2019 Turkey
Prof. Sangho Koo NR 2018-2019 Korea
Dr. Erik Szabo NR 2018-2019 Slovakia
Prof. Rafał Kruszyński NR 2018-2019 Poland
Dr. Ladda Meesuk NR 2018-2019 Thailand
Dr. Maria A. Petrova NR 2018-2019 Bulgaria
Andrey Yerin NR 2018-2019 Russia
Dr. Gerard P. Moss Ex Officio 2016-2019 United Kingdom
Prof. Richard M. Hartshorn Ex Officio 2016-2019 New Zealand

10 TMs, 6 AMs,
10 NRs

as of 1 January 2018
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2. CURRENTLY ACTIVE DIVISION VIII PROJECTS

Number Chair Short Title Comments

2001-081-1-800 (Kahovec) Fradet Nomenclature for Dendrimers in Revision, to resubmit

2003-045-3-800 Town Graphic Representation Standards see 2012-033-1-800 below
2004-024-1-800 Moss JCBN Cyclic Peptides Revive
2006-019-1-800 (Dixon †) Moss JCBN Phosphorus Compounds Revive
2006-038-1-800 (Hartshorn) Damhus Inorganic PINs/Kappa Convention
2009-018-2-800 Rauter JCBN Flavonoids Nomenclature in 2nd Proof-read
2009-022-2-800 (Cammack/Ennis) JCBN biologically important Small Molecules Transfer to new Chair
2009-040-2-800 Batchelor InChI Organometallic Compounds
2009-041-1-800 Goncharoff InChI Markush Structures no feedback
2009-042-1-800 Yerin InChI Polymers
2009-043-2-800 Grethe InChI Reactions
2010-055-1-800 Hartshorn Inorganic and Organic Brief Guides Part 1 completed, part 2 nearly
2011-035-1-800 Jones Inorganic Polymers (TINCOPS)
2011-044-1-300 Brimble Abbreviations for Protecting Groups Completed, Errata needed
2012-023-2-800 Nicklaus InChI Tautomerism
2012-033-1-800 Town Graphic Representation of Reactions see 2017-036-2-800 below
2012-037-1-800 Yerin Hydrogenation (Hydro Prefixes/Indicated H)
2012-039-2-800 Vliegenthart JCBN Carbohydrate Nomenclature see 2015-035-2-800 below
2012-045-1-800 Beckett Boron Nomenclature Divisional review
2012-046-2-800 (Rey)(Hartshorn) InChI Inorganic Transfer to new Chair
2013-010-1-800 Taylor InChI Biomolecules
2013-030-1-800 Hutton Metallacycles
2013-031-3-800 Chen Star Polymers finalise for submission
2013-056-1-800 Mansfield Carbon Nanotubes
2014-001-2-200 Öhrström Topology of Metal-Organic Frameworks
2014-003-2-800 Dijkstra Hyphenation of Chemical Names finalise for review
2014-034-2-400 Vert Polymeric Carriers
2015-003-2-300 Reaney Homodetic Cyclic Peptides
2015-019-2-800 Hartshorn InChI QR-Code Extension
2015-025-4-800 McEwen InChI Mixtures
2015-035-2-800 Vliegenthart JCBN Carbohydrates [Project extension] see 2017-026-1-800 below
2015-052-1-800 Hellwich Blue Book Extension and Revision
2015-053-1-200 Macaluso Solid State Terminology
2017-026-1-800 Vliegenthart JCBN Carbohydrates [Project extension]
2017-033-1-800 Hellwich Alignment of Nomenclature Principles draft report
2017-036-2-800 Taylor Graphic Representation of Reactions
2017-039-2-800 Hellwich Graphic Representation of Polymers

2006-004-1-400 He Abbreviations for Polymer Names Completed, Errata needed

2008-020-1-400 Hodge Web Guide to Polymer Naming prepare final draft
2009-047-1-400 Hellwich Stereo Poly draft ms.
2014-033-1-400 Vert Lactic Acid [Project extension] immediate submit to ICTNS
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3. PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO DIVISION VIII SINCE LAST GA

(SAO PAULO, AUGUST 2017)

Recommendations

G. M. Blackburn, J. Cherfils, G. P. Moss, N. G. J. Richards, J. P. Waltho, N. H. Williams, A.

Wittinghofer, How to name atoms in phosphates, polyphosphates, their derivatives and
mimics, and transition state analogues for enzyme-catalysed phosphoryl transfer reactions
(IUPAC Recommendations 2016), Pure Appl. Chem. 89(5), 653 – 675 (2017)

W. Mormann, K.-H. Hellwich, J. Chen, E. S. Wilks, Preferred names of constitutional units

for use in structure-based names of polymers (IUPAC Recommendations 2016), Pure Appl.
Chem. 89(11), 1695 – 1736 (2017).

J. Duffus, D. M. Templeton, M. Schwenk, Comprehensive Glossary of Terms Used in

Toxicology, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2017 (contains a 35 pages appendix of systematic
names for drugs and agrochemicals, thoroughly corrected by the President of Division VIII).

Other publications

J. Reedijk, On the Naming of Recently Discovered Chemical Elements — the 2016

Experience, Chem. Int. 39(2), 30 – 32 (2017).

R. Weir, IUPAC Standards and Recommendations, Chem. Int. 39(2), 34 – 35 (2017).

R. Boucher, S. Heller, A. McNaught, The Status of the IUPAC InChI Chemical Structure
Standard, Chem. Int. 39(3), 47 (2017).

R. C. Hiorns, A Personal View of the Life and Times of the Subcommittee on Polymer
Terminology, Chem. Int. 39(4), 14 – 19 (2017).

L. Mc Ewen, InChI’ng forward: Community Engagement in IUPAC’s Digital Chemical

identifier, Chem. Int. 40(1), 27 – 30 (2018).

K.-H. Hellwich, K.-M. Roy, Herkunftsbezogene Nomenklatur für einstrangige Homo- und
Copolymere, Angew. Chem. 130(10), 2756 – 2773 (2018) [Translation of IUPAC source-
based nomenclature in: Pure Appl. Chem. 88, 1073 – 1100 (2016)].