Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Chemicals/Archive 2026
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Article titles for haloalkanes
I noticed that we are inconsistent about how we name haloalkanes/alkyl halides. Here are the current titles for some lower haloalkanes:
| F | Cl | Br | I | |
| ethyl | Fluoroethane | Chloroethane | Bromoethane | Ethyl iodide |
| propyl | - | n-Propyl chloride | 1-Bromopropane | n-Propyl iodide |
| isopropyl | Isopropyl fluoride | Isopropyl chloride | 2-Bromopropane | Isopropyl iodide |
| n-butyl | 1-Fluorobutane | 1-Chlorobutane | 1-Bromobutane | Butyl iodide |
| s-butyl | - | 2-Chlorobutane | 2-Bromobutane | - |
| t-butyl | - | tert-Butyl chloride | tert-Butyl bromide | tert-Butyl iodide |
| isobutyl | - | Isobutyl chloride | - | - |
Should we try to be consistent, with all of them titled as haloalkanes, or all titled as alkyl halides? Or is a mix ok? Marbletan (talk) 20:30, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
- We should definitely try to WP:CONSISTENT as much as possible per WP:TITLECON, but while also following WP:COMMONNAME as much as reasonable. We should at least be able to be consistent for a given carbon chain. Let me take a look when I have time in regards to most common usage and I'll note my findings here. Mdewman6 (talk) 21:14, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
- So I took a look by searching by CAS number on the CAS database, PubChem, Google, and MilliporeSigma. Results were a bit mixed for the halomethanes, but otherwise, substitutive names with the haloalkane form are overwhelmingly used instead of the radical (alkyl halide) form. I think we should move all pages accordingly. We should probably go through RM as these have been at these titles for a long time and the moves are certainly potentially controversial. Any other thoughts? Mdewman6 (talk) 04:02, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
- RM makes sense, but it could well be a single centralized one for them all, since a main idea is "consistency". DMacks (talk) 04:19, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
- Some other articles with comparable spacing issues. Not much. Maybe:
- RM makes sense, but it could well be a single centralized one for them all, since a main idea is "consistency". DMacks (talk) 04:19, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
- Trimethylphosphine vs dimethyl sulfide
- Dimethyl selenide vs Bis(2-chloroethyl)selenide?
- Butane-1-thiol vs methanethiol
- My slight worry is that we open the door to wikipedia lawyers with strong opinions and disregard for chem culture. But probably not.--Smokefoot (talk) 18:35, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
- It's always a risk when a small community's traditions are exposed and possibly in conflict with broader standards. However, Mdewman6 makes a good case based on multiple Wikipedia-wide policy and corollary-item bases. But I also support working on one self-contained group at a time, especially if some of the site-policy arguments are not as clear for other cases (see also Perfect is the enemy of good). DMacks (talk) 04:40, 11 January 2026 (UTC)
- My slight worry is that we open the door to wikipedia lawyers with strong opinions and disregard for chem culture. But probably not.--Smokefoot (talk) 18:35, 10 January 2026 (UTC)
White solid vs white crystals?
In our venerable and valuable chemboxes is an entry "appearance". Many compounds are described as "crystals", but I worry that that description is too restrictive. Maybe your sample is absolutely pure but is a powder. So one recommendation is to use the term "solid" in place of crystals.--Smokefoot (talk) 17:25, 22 January 2026 (UTC)
Does this substance have a CAS No.? Unfortunately, I don't have SciFinder access to check. Leyo 13:55, 23 January 2026 (UTC)
- Added (via SciFinder: SMILES, INCHI, INCHIKEY all match). DMacks (talk) 14:00, 23 January 2026 (UTC)
- Thank you. --Leyo 14:20, 23 January 2026 (UTC)
Discussion on chemical data pages
Courtesy post of two discussions relevant to this project, although many here will have already have seen this:
- WT:Chemistry#Mass AfD nominations of chemistry related data pages
- WT:Chemistry#Chemistry data page cleanup
The first of these relates to AfD nominations of Boiling points of the elements (data page), Lithium chloride (data page), Melting points of the elements (data page) and Atomic radii of the elements (data page). The current status of the votes is close to WP:SNOW for keep. The second stems from the first and connects to the future of such data pages, although there is also relevant discussion on this within the AfDs. Ldm1954 (talk) 08:19, 4 February 2026 (UTC)