Primary carbon

Primary Carbon
Structural formula of propane (C3H8; primary carbons are highlighted red)

In organic chemistry, a primary carbon is a carbon atom which is bound to only one other carbon atom.^[1] It is thus at the end of a carbon chain. In case of an alkane, three hydrogen atoms are bound to a primary carbon (see propane in the figure on the right). A hydrogen atom could also be replaced by a hydroxy group (−OH), which would make the molecule a primary alcohol.^[2]

	primary carbon	secondary carbon	tertiary carbon	quaternary carbon
General structure (R = Organyl group)
Partial Structural formula