Question

Apoarently the name of this compound is 4-ethyl-4-methylheptane:
........................CH3
..........................|
CH3-CH2-CH2-C-CH2-CH3
..........................|
.......................CH2
..........................|
.......................CH2
..........................|
.......................CH3

I thought the suffix would be HEXane?? Doesn't the main chain have 6 C's?? Am I not identifying the main chain properly?
Please help, if I can't even identify the main chain, I'm in worse shape than I thought!

Answer 1

Yes you mistake in identifying the main chain. the main chain is the longest chain, i.e. from the left CH3 to the bottom CH3 which contains 7 carbons i.e. heptane.

so, branch CH3 and CH2CH3 are on carbon 4 (4-ethyl-4methyl)....