Question

You said that 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene and 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene are the same.

This is what it said on a website I looked at:

2,3-Dimethyl-2-butene C6H12

2,3-Dimethylbut-2-ene hydrogen peroxide C6H14O2

If they are both the same why are the formulas different?

If they are both the same why does it say hydrogen peroxide next to 2,3-Dimethylbut-2-ene?

Answer 1

You're trying to compare 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene;hydrogen peroxide with 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene. Of course those are different. 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene is an entity. It is a different entity from H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). And both of these are different entities from a third entity of 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene:hydrogen peroxide. I have never suggested that 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene and 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene:hydrogen peroxide are NOT different. In fact I never brought up 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene:hydrogen peroxide. You went to the web, found some reference to 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene: hydrogen peroxide and somehow inserted that into the conversation about 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene. At the time you said it was confusing and it is if you don't realize that we're talking about two different compounds. What I said was that 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene and 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene are two different names for the same compound. The first name using IUPAC rules adopted in 1995 and the latter using rules adopted by IUPAC before 1995. Stated another way, the name 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene and the name 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene are two different names for the same compound using pre-1995 and post-1995 rules by IUPAC. And there is no way to confuse that compound with a third compound you found on the web that described 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene:hydrogen peroxide. That compound is a whole new ball game.