Traditionally, organic compounds have been given trivial names that often have some link with their historical sources. Knowing the name of a compound didn’t necessarily mean that you could work out the structure. There was a logic involved and predictions could be made once you knew a few simple clues. Some names include acetic acid, aniline, acetone, oil of wintergreen.
Find out more from the organic nomenclature primer we've added to our lessons and primers section.
https://cramnow.com/lessons/organic-chemistry/organic-nomenclature-primer