amyl

The word or root amyl has two meanings, in organic chemistry and biochemistry.^[1]

Biochemistry

In biochemistry, "amyl" means "pertaining to starch", "amylum" being another word for starch. Many terms for moderately complex biological chemicals related to starch contain "amyl", for example:

• Amylase
• Amylopectin
• Amylose
• Amyloplast
• Amyloid (based on an early mistaken opinion that these structures contained starch)

Note that in this usage, it is a part of the word, and becomes "amylo" when preceding a consonant.

Organic Chemistry

In organic chemistry, amyl is the old trivial name for the alkyl substituent and radical called pentyl under the IUPAC nomenclature: that is, -C₅H₁₁. This usage may derive from the presence of amyl alcohol in fusel oil, which is often fermented from starches. In this usage, amyl (normally) remains a separate word and it does not become "amylo-" before a consonant.

Several important amyl/pentyl compounds are still widely known by their older, amyl names, including:

• Amylamine
• Amyl acetate
• Amyl alcohol
• Amyl nitrate
• Amyl nitrite

There are eight possible isomers of amyl; see under pentyl for more information. Frequently chemicals sold commercially as amyl compounds will be a mixture of several isomers.

Slang

"Amyl" is also a slang term for amyl nitrite when used as a recreational drug.

"E-Amyl" is the name of the equivalent drug often sniffed by players of the game Second Life

Etymology

"Amyl", used to mean "starch", in Latin Amylum, was taken from Greek αμυλος = "cake made from fine flour", from α + μυλη = "not mill", the flour not ground on grindstones as bread flour, but dried milk slurry strained from a pulp of softened grain (wheat) with water.^[2]

See also

Look up amyl in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Methyl
• Ethyl
• Propyl
• Butyl

References