Galois, in the 1830s, was the first to employ groups to determine the solvability of polynomial equations.
Kadar je potrebno, se imenu doda tudi številka ogljikovega atoma, na katerem je hidroksilna skupina, na primer: propan-1-ol za CH3-CH2-CH2-OH ali propan-2-ol za CH3-CH2(OH)-CH3.