Question

Orgo question, numbering carbons

Answer 1

For a compound like this what’s the best way to go about determining carbon numbers?

Answer 2

Please do not comment unless you are making a serious attempt to answer the question.

Answer 3

What do you mean by carbon numbers?

The number of carbon atoms in the molecule?

There really is no trick except to just count and keep track of what you counted.

I counted 16 carbons

Answer 4

oh, no, I mean like numbering carbons in terms of priority

there was a question asking about carbon #14 and I wasn't 100% sure where to start numbering from

Answer 5

Oh LOL
that makes a lot more sense

There isn't any way unless they give us the IUPAC name of the structure
All we know here is what the 13th carbon is based on the structure tetrodecamycin since the 13th carbon will have H instead of OH (deoxy)

But that doesn't get us any further in establishing the positions for the other carbons.

Tetrodecamycin is
5,11-Methanofuro(3,4-d)(3)benzoxonin-1,12(3H,5H)-dione, 6,6a,7,8,9,10,10a,11-octahydro-6,6a-dihydroxy-11,13-dimethyl-3-methylene-, (5R-(5R*,6S*,6aR*,10aR*,11S*,13R*))-
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/3074377

Answer 6

oh

well thank you C:

Answer 7

My pleasure! It's just the common name because who's going to say a long IUPAC name, so you won't be able to determine how the carbons are numbered :)