Abbreviations are commonly used in all aspects of life, and are extensively used within fields in Chemistry. The use of abbreviations is only useful where the reader understands what the abbreviations mean, and therefore it is important to define any abbreviations used.

Of course, many abbreviations are already pre-defined and listing these may not be a requirement to list. For instance, it is very rare to need to define element symbols within chemistry (the periodic table provides this), and some fields may not require the defining of SI units, as these are similarly documented. Similarly, amino acid codes may or may not need to be defined (either one or three letter), depending on the field of work.

Groups of abbreviations

Below are some common groups of abbreviations which may need to be included within abbreviations lists depending on the requirements of the field.

Element abbreviations

The letter codes for elements, eg H, He, Li, Be etc. Rarely required to be defined in chemistry

Units (SI and non-SI)

time, SI, non SI, ppm, mL

Other quantities

v volume, m mass (50% v/v)

Material states

s, l, g

Organic functional groups

Me, Et, Ph, Ar, Ac, Ms, Ts, protecting groups,heterocycles

n,s,i,t (BuLi)

Regiochemistry

o/m/p (2/3/4)

Instrumentation

MS, IR, MP, UV-vis, GC, HPLC

NMR multiplicities

s,d,t,q,m

NMR pulse programs

DEPT, COSY, HSQC, HMBC

Mass spectrometer

HRMS

m/z

ESI, EI, CI, APCI, MALDI

M⁺

Amino acids

One and three letter

Commonly used chemicals

DCC, DMAP, DMF, DMSO, CAN

Greek

Delta, delta, lambda

Reaction conditions and experimental

Aq, rt, equiv., ca., conc.

Stereochemistry

ee, de, dr

Research specific

TOP

hv

Abbreviations to avoid

There are some commonly used informal abbreviations which can be avoided in publications and instead use things which are already defined. A good example of this would be the solvent dichloromethane, which is commonly called DCM in colloquial language. However, dichloromethane can also be abbreviated as CH₂Cl₂, which may be preferable, and indeed several journals list DCM as an unacceptable abbreviation within their author guidelines. If DCM is chosen to be used (where it is permitted), then it is important to take care to avoid using both abbreviations, and ensure that if dichloromethane is abbreviated that the approach is consistent.

These same principles may apply to many other abbreviations, and when using abbreviations it is worth considering if this is the most appropriate option.

Duplicate abbreviations

Some abbreviations may end up meaning different things depending on the context, which can be problematic. For instance the letter 's' is often used to represent multiple different things, which is complicated further when the uppercase character is considered. For s, this could be used to represent:

• s: seconds, the SI unit for time. eg might be found on graph axes

• s: singlet, used to indicate multiplicity in NMR data listings

• s: sec, as in secondary, often used in structures or when referring to compounds, eg s-BuLi

• s: solid, indicating the state of a material, eg Na(s)

• s: spin quantum number

• s: s-block, groups I and II in the periodic table

• s: s-electrons, used to indicate the electron configuration, eg Li is 1s²2s¹

• S: sulfur, the symbol representing the element

• S: Siemens, the unit for electrical conductance (kg⁻¹ m⁻² s³ A² in SI base units)

• S: entropy, the thermodynamic quantity

• S: sinister, the stereochemical label indicating the configuration of a chiral centre (R or S)

• S: serine, the one letter abbreviation for the amino acid

Whilst it may not be possible to avoid these duplicate uses, it is worth considering what duplication exists, and paying particular care when using abbreviations to ensure the context, and therefore the abbreviation, is clear.

Example abbreviation list

The list below is an example of typical abbreviations which might be included within a thesis or dissertation. This list will require editing to remove superfluous and add in additional abbreviations as required.

Ac Acetyl

AIBN 2,2′-Azobis(2-methylpropionitrile)

aq. Aqueous

Ar Aryl

Bn Benzyl

Boc tert-butoxycarbonyl

Bu Butyl

ca Circa

Calcd. Calculated

CAN Ceric ammonium nitrate

CI Chemical ionisation

conc. Concentrated

CPBA Chloroperbenzoic acid

δ Chemical shift

Δ Heat/reflux

d Doublet

DBA Dibenzylideneacetone

DCC N,N-Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide

DCE 1,2-Dichloroethane

DDQ 2,3-Dichloro-5,6-dicyanobenzoquinone

DEPT Distortionless enhancement by polarisation transfer

DMAP 4-N,N-Dimethylaminopyridine

DMF Dimethylformamide

DMP Dess-Martin periodinane

DMSO Dimethyl sulfoxide

ee Enantiomeric excess

EI Electron ionisation

ESI Electrospray ionisation

Et Ethyl

eq Equivalent

Fur Furyl

g Gram(s)

h Hour(s)

HRMS High resolution mass spectrometry

hν Light

Hz Hertz

i Iso

IBX Iodobenzoic acid

IPA iso-Propyl alcohol

IR Infra-red

J Coupling constant

KDMO Potassium 3,7-dimethyl-3-octylate

L Litre(s)

LDA Lithium diisopropylamine

Lit. Literature

m Multiplet

m Meta

M Molar

M+ Molecular ion

Me Methyl

min Minute(s)

mL Millilitre(s)

mmol Millimole

mol sieves Molecular sieves

Ms Methanesulfonic

MS Mass spectrometry

MTBD 7-Methyl-1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene

mp Melting point

MS Mass Spectrometry

W Microwave

m/z Mass to charge ratio

n Normal

Nap Naphthyl

NMO 4-Methylmorpholine N-oxide

NMR Nuclear Magnetic resonance

o Ortho

p Para

PCC Pyridinium chlorochromate

Ph Phenyl

PhMe Toluene

PLE Pig-liver esterase

PMB para-Methoxybenzyl

ppm Parts per million

PPO Pyrophosphate

Pr Propyl

Py Pyridine

Pyr Pyridyl

q Quartet

R Alkyl group (unspecified)

Rf Retention factor

rt Room temperature

RSM Recovered starting material

s Singlet

(S)-t-Bu-phox (S)-4-tert-Butyl-2-[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]-2-oxazoline

t Triplet

t Tert

T3P Propylphosphonic anhydride

Tf Trifluoromethanesulfonic

TFA Trifluoroacetic acid

TFPAA Trifluoroperacetic acid

THF Tetrahydrofuran

Thi Thiophenyl

TLC Thin Layer Chromatography

TMS Trimethylsilyl

TOP Tandem Oxidation Process

TPAP Tetra-n-propylammonium perruthenate

TSA Toluenesulfonic acid

v Volume

w Weight