The Alkane
About The Alkane
The Alkane is a free tool that turns a molecule you draw into its IUPAC name. Built for students, it's simple, accessible, and free forever.
The Story and History
I started off tutoring GCSE chemistry at my school, and saw firsthand the struggles students faced grasping the concepts needed for nomenclature. When it clicked, it clicked but students needed a visual aid to practice. That is why I decided to create this tool.
The naming algorithm was written by myself for A-Level Computer Science coursework. The program was written entirely manually and from scratch with each path validated against actual IUPAC guidelines taught in Chemistry GCSE and A-Level. I have since expanded this into the tool here today, but it is still fully deterministic, conservative in scope, never guesses, and will never give a confidently wrong name.
When I first released the naming software in 2023, it was the first open-source IUPAC namer of its kind. In the years since, other great attempts have been released to solve naming but this remains the only free and open-source naming tool designed for students!
The algorithm covers every molecule you may encounter before university, plus vastly more, so you can explore, discover, and test yourself.
What can it name?
Alkanes, alkenes and alkynes, straight or branched, plus rings, aromatics, and all the functional groups you'll meet at GCSE and A-Level — alcohols, acids, amines, esters and more.
Is it free and open source?
Yes to both. No account, no payment, no install, and free forever. The naming engine is open source on GitHub, please just credit me!
Try the namer Draw a structure and read off its IUPAC name, free, in the browser.