Nitriles: RCN Compounds containing the-Cn functional group are known as nitriles. Simple acyclic nitriles are named by adding nitrile as a suffix to the alkane names with the nitrile carbon itself numbered Cl More complex nitriles are named as derivatives of carboxylic acid by replacing the -ic acid or-oic acid ending with nitrile, or by replacing the carboxylic acid ending with -carbonitrileOrganic Chemistry Organic Chemistry Xiamen Xiamen University University Nitriles: RCN „ Compounds containing the –CN functional group are known as nitriles. Simple acyclic nitriles are named by adding – nitrile as a suffix to the alkane names, with the nitrile carbon itself numbered C1. „ More complex nitriles are named as derivatives of carboxylic acid by replacing the –ic acid or –oic acid ending with – onitrile, or by replacing the carboxylic acid ending with –carbonitrile