Chemical substance the mild pain-killer Naproxen is the more common name for the chemical compound (S)-6-methoxy-α-methyl-2-naphthaleneacetic acid. Chemists frequently refer to chemical compounds using chemical formulae or molecular structure of the compound. There has been a phenomenal growth in the number of chemical compounds being synthesized (or isolated), and then reported in the scientific literature by professional chemists around the world. An enormous number of chemical compounds are possible through the chemical combination of the known chemical elements. As of May 2011, about sixty million chemical compounds are known. The names of many of these compounds are often nontrivial and hence not
Chemical nomenclature of technical terms used in chemistry. Similar compendia exist for biochemistry (the "White Book", in association with the IUBMB), analytical chemistry (the "Orange Book"), macromolecular chemistry (the "Purple Book") and clinical chemistry (the "Silver Book"). These "color books" are supplemented by shorter recommendations for specific circumstances that are published periodically in the journal "Pure and Applied Chemistry". The primary function of chemical nomenclature is to ensure that a spoken or written chemical name leaves no ambiguity concerning which chemical compound the name refers to: each chemical name should refer to a single substance. A less important aim is to ensure