Title: retro
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - retro
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.R05370
Status: current

Definition
A prefix which indicates a shift by one position of all single and double bonds in a conjugated polyene system. It has been applied only to carotenoids and retinoids, e.g. retro-carotenoids, retro-retinoids. A prefix which indicates the reverse sequence of a peptide.

Related Terms
- carotenoids: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/C00858
- peptide: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04479
- retinoids: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/R05369
- sequence: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/ST06775

Sources
- Blue Book Guide, p. 32 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199971071327)
- PAC, 1995, 67, 1307. 'Glossary of class names of organic compounds and reactivity intermediates based on structure (IUPAC Recommendations 1995)' on page 1363 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199567081307)

Related Reference
- White Book, 2nd ed., p. 64, 229, 249 (https://iupac.qmul.ac.uk/bibliog/white.html)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/R05370/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/R05370/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/R05370/xml

Citation: Citation: 'retro' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.R05370
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-06T15:36:35+00:00