Amyl
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2008-05-14T01:57:40Z
Cacycle
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/* Biochemistry */ uppercase
The word or [[root (linguistics)|root]] '''amyl''' has two meanings, in [[organic chemistry]] and [[biochemistry]].
== Biochemistry ==
In biochemistry, "amyl" means "pertaining to starch". Many moderately complex biological chemicals related to starch contain it, for example:-
* [[Amylase]]
* [[Amylopectin]]
* [[Amylose]]
Note that in this usage, it is a part of the word, and becomes "amylo" when preceding a [[consonant]].
== Chemistry ==
In organic chemistry, amyl is the old [[trivial name]] for the [[alkyl]] [[functional group]] and [[radical (chemistry)|radical]] called [[pentyl]] under the [[IUPAC nomenclature]]: that is, -C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>11</sub>. This usage may derive from the presence of amyl alcohol in [[fusel oil]], which is often [[Fermentation (food)|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 [[isomer]]s 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", was taken from Greek αμυλος = "cake made from fine [[flour]]", from α + μυλη = "not [[mill (grinding)|mill]]" because the flour used to make an αμυλος was not ground on the same [[grindstone]]s as ordinary bread flour.
== See also ==
* [[Methyl]]
* [[Ethyl]]
* [[Propyl]]
* [[Butyl]]
[[Category:Biomolecules]]
[[Category:Functional groups]]
[[nl:Amyl]]