Question

When naming this structure, why would the name be 3-methylcyclohexanol and not 1-methyl-3-cyclohexanol? Thank you!

Answer 1

Does not the hydroxyl substituent take priority?

Explanation:

This is an alcohol derivative...the ipso carbon attached to `OH`...is the NUMBER ONE CARBON. And the methyl group takes NUMBER THREE position on the ring. And note that this compound could potentially generate a number of diastereomers given that `C_1` and `C_3` are stereogenic, i.e. bound to 4 different residues.... Substituent ordering takes place on the basis of the atomic number, `Z`, of the substituent...