Page 108 - General Biochemistry

backbone. Each double bond is preceded by a cis- or trans- prefix, indicating
the configuration of the molecule around the bond.
For example, linoleic acid is designated "cis-Δ9, cis-Δ12 octadecadienoic
acid". This nomenclature has the advantage of being less verbose than
systematic nomenclature, but is no more technically clear or descriptive

Figure 25 linoleic acid

4) ω−x or omega-x nomenclature:
A double bond is located on the xth carbon–carbon bond, counting from the

methyl end of the molecule backbone.
Ex: linoleic acid is classified as omega- 6 fatty acid (look at the previous figure)
5) Lipid numbers (shorthand) nomenclature:
It takes the form C:D where C is the number of carbon atoms in the fatty acid and
D is the number of double bonds in the fatty acid. Ex: linoleic acid 18:2 (9,12)

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