Naming inorganic compounds
metal containing
Compounds containing a metal will be based on the name of the elemental metal plus the name of the anion. The name of simple nonmetal anions convert the ending of the element name with -ide. Polyatomic anions usually end with -ite or -ate. (Note that hydroxide, OH-, is an exception.)
F- fluoride
Cl- chloride ClO2- chlorite ClO32- chlorate ClO4- perchlorate
Br- bromide BrO32- bromate
I- iodide IO32- iodate
O2- oxide OH- hydroxide O22- peroxide
S2- sulfide SO32- sulfite SO42- sulfate
Se2- selenide
N3- nitride NO2- nitrite NO3- nitrate
P3- phosphide PO43- phosphate
As3- arsenide AsO32- arsenate
C4- carbide CO32- carbonate
Si4- silicide SiO44- silicate
a few more
HCO3- hydrogen carbonate (bicarbonate)
HSO3- hydrogen sulfite (bisulfite)
HSO4- hydrogen sulfate (bisulfate)
HPO42- hydrogen phosphate
H2PO4- dihydrogen phosphate
common organic anions
CH3COO- acetate
HCOO- formate
C2O42- oxalate
common anions containing metals
MnO4- permanganate
CrO42- chromate
Cr2O72- dichromate
Metals with multiple oxidation states use a Roman numeral in parentheses to specify the oxidation state. Example:
formula write as read as
FeCl2 iron(II) chloride iron two chloride
FeCl3 iron(III) chloride iron three chloride
nonmetals
The name of nonmetallic compounds use the name of the first element in the formula followed by the name for the other elements in the compound, modified as above. A prefix indicates the number of each atom in the compound. Examples:
formula read as
CO carbon monoxide
CO2 carbon dioxide
SO2 sulfur dioxide
SO3 sulfur trioxide
N2O5 dinitrogen pentoxide
Naming Complexes
Complex ions are named with the ligand names added as prefixes to the name of the central metal ion. Anionic ligands are modified with the suffix -o, for example: chloro, Cl-, cyano, CN-, and hydroxo, OH-. Most neutral ligands retain their usual name, a few exceptions are:
formula ligand name
C=O carbonyl
H2O aqua
NH3 ammine
formula read as
Cu(H2O)42- tetraaquacopper(II)
CoCl63- hexachlorocobalt(III)