Page 49 of Organic Chem textbook-Z or E

[Eman_Burney_1D]

On page 49 in the green introduction to chemistry textbook, there is a compound listed as (Z)-2-Fluoro-3-pentene. How is this an example of a compound with "Z"? Is F a higher priority substituent than CH₃? If so, how did you know that?

[Chem_Mod]

(Z)-2-fluoro-2-pentene is a Z structure because, yes, fluorine takes a higher priority than the carbon in -CH₃. A simple way to justify this is that fluorine has a higher atomic number than carbon. Generally, atomic number can be used to determine priority between two atoms/substituents.

Remember, "Z" can be remembered as "ze zame side".