Alcohols & ethers · Beginner

Draw ethane-1,2-diol

Draw the skeletal structure of ethane-1,2-diol, then check it. The checker compares the molecule you drew with the answer, so a correct structure is accepted however you draw it.

Draw it in the editor

How this exercise works

Open the exercise in the editor and draw the structure: drag from dot to dot to draw bonds, and tap a bond or an atom to change it.
Press Check answer. Equivalent drawings are accepted, and a mistake such as a missing carbon or a misplaced group is explained.
Stuck? Hints reveal the structure step by step, and the worked answer explains the name.

This exercise has 3 hints and a worked answer.

How to read a name like this

The suffix -ol means an OH group on a carbon of the chain. The number before -ol is that carbon, and the chain is numbered to give it the lowest possible locant, before double bonds and substituents; -diol and -triol mean two or three OH groups.

Hydroxy- is the prefix form of the same group, used when a group that ranks higher gives the suffix. An ether is named with an alkoxy prefix such as methoxy- or ethoxy-: an oxygen bonded to the parent on one side and to another carbon group, usually the smaller one, on the other.

In the drawing the oxygen is written out: with its H in an alcohol, between two carbons and without H in an ether.

Rules this name uses

Di-, tri- and tetra- mean two, three or four of the same group or bond, and each of them has its own locant, even when two groups are on the same carbon. Multipliers do not count in alphabetical order.

Learn the naming rules

The guide Alcohols and ethers explains the names in this topic, with worked examples.

All the exercises of this family, with a short summary of its naming rules: Nomenclature practice: Alcohols and ethers.

More exercises: Alcohols and ethers

Practice the whole topic Name the structures of this topic

Have a structure of your own?

Draw it on the free drawing page and see its name, formula and functional groups as you draw.