Primary carbon

Last updated February 04, 2026

Primary Carbon

Structural formula of propane (C₃H₈; primary carbons are highlighted red)

In organic chemistry, a primary carbon is a carbon atom of an alkane or alkyl group that is bound to only one other carbon atom.^[1] It is thus sp³-hybridized and at the end of a carbon chain. In case of an alkane, 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 (−OH), which would make the molecule a primary alcohol.^[2]

	primary carbon	secondary carbon	tertiary carbon	quaternary carbon
General structure (R = Organyl group)
Partial Structural formula

References

↑ Smith, Janice Gorzynski (2011). "Chapter 4 Alkanes". Organic chemistry (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-07-337562-5. Archived from the original (Book) on 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
↑ Hans Peter Latscha, Uli Kazmaier, Helmut Alfons Klein (2016), Organische Chemie: Chemie-Basiswissen II (in German) (7. Auflage ed.), Berlin: Springer Spektrum, p. 40, ISBN 978-3-662-46180-8 {{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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[1] Smith, Janice Gorzynski (2011). "Chapter 4 Alkanes". Organic chemistry (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-07-337562-5. Archived from the original (Book) on 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2018-06-26.

[2] Hans Peter Latscha, Uli Kazmaier, Helmut Alfons Klein (2016), Organische Chemie: Chemie-Basiswissen II (in German) (7. Auflage ed.), Berlin: Springer Spektrum, p. 40, ISBN 978-3-662-46180-8 {{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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