Compounds having the structure
RC≡N;
thus
C-substituted derivatives of hydrocyanic acid,
HC≡N.
In systematic nomenclature, the suffix nitrile denotes the triply bound
≡N
atom, not the carbon atom attached to it.
Source:
PAC, 1995, 67, 1307
(Glossary of class names of organic compounds and reactivity intermediates based on
structure (IUPAC Recommendations 1995))
on page 1350