Nomenclature of Inorganic Compounds

Overview
A lot of compounds are available nowadays. Remembering their names would be quite difficult. There must be a systematic method of naming (a technique that provides relationship of names with its formula) should be used.

Chemical formula
It is a representation, which is used to denote one molecule of pure substance

Chemical formula
It indicates the relative amount of atoms of each element in a molecule, which consists of symbols of the elements composing the pure substance and subscripts denoting relative number of atoms of each element in a unit particle or molecule of the element of compound.

OXIDATION NUMBERS
Oxidation number or oxidation state is an apparent charge of an atom in a compound when electrons are transferred from one atom to another to form ions.

OXIDATION NUMBERS
This set of whole numbers (sometimes positive and in other cases, negative) are very useful for predicting the formulas of the compounds, classifying them, comparing the chemical properties of the elements and describing chemical reactions

Rules for Assigning Oxidation Numbers/States

1. The oxidation numbers of an element in the free or uncombined state is always zero. Example: Cu0, Si0, Mg0

Rules for Assigning Oxidation Numbers/States

2. The oxidation numbers of monoatomic ion is the same as the charge on the ion. The group of numbers in the periodic table will help us remember the oxidation numbers.

Rules for Assigning Oxidation Numbers/States

There are two observations: important general

A common oxidation number of all metals is positive and is equal to its group number. A common oxidation number of all nonmetals is negative and is equal to the group number minus 8.

Common Oxidation States of Common Elements

GROUP NO. IA IIA IIIA IVA VA VIA VIIA OXIDATION NUMBERS +1 +2 +3 +4/-4 -3 -2 -1 EXAMPLES Na+, Li+, Ag+1 Mg2+, Ba2+, Zn2+ Al3+, B3+ C4+ N3-, C4-, Si4+ O2F-, Cl-

Notes
An element with positive oxidation number is a positive ion called CATION and an element with negative oxidation number is a negative ion called ANION.

Notes
There are elements that have more than one oxidation numbers. Generally, they are the transition elements.

Common Oxidation Numbers of Common Transition Elements

OXID NO. Cr2+ Cr3+ Mn2+ Mn4+ Fe2+ Fe3+ Co2+ Co3+ Cu+ FORMULA NAME OF THE ION chromous/chromium (II) chromic/chromium (III) manganous/manganese (II) manganic/manganese (IV) ferrous/iron (II) ferric/iron (III) cobaltous/cobalt (II) cobaltic/cobalt (III) cuprous/copper (I) OXID NO. Cu2+ Hg+ Hg2+ Sn2+ Sn4+ Pb2+ Pb4+ H+ HFORMULA NAME OF THE ION cupric/copper (II) mercurous/mercury (I) mercuric/mercury (II) stannous/tin(II) stannic/tin (IV) plumbous/lead (II) plumbic/lead (IV) hydrogen/hydronium hydride

*H is not a transition element.

Rules for Assigning Oxidation Numbers/States

3. The algebraic sum of the oxidation numbers for all the atoms in the formula of a compound is zero. ex. Mg2+Br2+2 + (-1)(2) = 0

Rules for Assigning Oxidation Numbers/States

4. The sum of the oxidation numbers of the atoms in a polyatomic ion must be equal the charge of the ion.

Common Polyatomic Ions

NH4+ C2H3O2ClOClO2ClO3ClO4CNOHMonovalent Ions Ammonium HCO3Bicarbonate Acetate NO2Nitrite Hypochlorite NO3Nitrate Chlorite MnO4- Permanganate Chlorate HSO4Bisulfate Perchlorate HSO3Bisulfite Cyanide CNOCyanate Hydroxide CNSThiocyanate

Common Polyatomic Ions

CO32CrO42Cr2O72C2O42SO32Divalent Ions Carbonate SO42Chromate S2O32Dichromate HPO42Oxalate SiO32Sulfite ZnO22Sulfate Thiosulfate Biphosphate Silicate Zincate

Common Polyatomic Ions

Trivalent Ions PO33Phosphite PO43Phosphate Polyvalent Ions P2O74- Pyrophosphate

Rules for Assigning Oxidation Numbers/States

5. Some common oxidation numbers:
Hydrogen has usually +1, except in hydrides (ionic compounds with IA and IIA), it has 1. Oxygen has usually 2, except in peroxides, such as H2O2, and Na2O2, it has 1. Aluminum (Group IIIA) has +3: Zinc (Group IIB) has +2 and Silver (Group IB) has +1.

Rule in Writing Formulas

General Method
The symbol of the cation is written first followed by the symbol of the anion then apply the criss-cross method.

Rule in Writing Formulas

Metals, nonmetals and inert gases have their formulas the same as their symbols. Example: Calcium Magnesium Ca Mg

Rule in Writing Formulas

Active gaseous elements are written correctly by taking two atoms of the elements since these are diatomic molecules. Examples: Oxygen Hydrogen O2 H2

Rule in Writing Formulas

Compounds: Write the symbol of the positive element or positive radical with their oxidation number first, then followed by the negative element or negative radical with their oxidation number also. The algebraic sum of the oxidation numbers must be equal zero so that the compound will be neutral.

Rule in Writing Formulas

When the positive oxidation numbers and the negative oxidation numbers are the same, the formula is the same as it stands. Example: K+BrSr+2O-2 KBr SrO

Rule in Writing Formulas

When the positive oxidation number and the negative oxidation numbers are not the same, apply the criss-cross rule so that the algebraic sum of the oxidation numbers will be equal to zero. Example: Al+3S-2 Ca+2ClAl2S3 CaCl2

Rule in Writing Formulas

Whenever a radical in a formula is taken more than once, enclose the radical inside a parenthesis and write the correct subscript after the parenthesis. Example: K+(Cr2O7)2K2Cr2O7 Ba+2(OH)Ba(OH)2

Examples
Sodium chloride Ferrous oxide Aluminum iodide Calcium phosphate Ammonium carbonate

Systematic Naming of Compounds

Binary Compounds compound which is composed of two elements

Binary Salts (M + NM)

For metals with fixed oxidation no. Rule: name the (+) ion + name the stem of (-) ion + IDE NaI Sodium iodide MgBr2 Magnesium bromide K3N Potassium nitride CaO Calcium Oxide

Binary Salts (M + NM)

For metals with variable oxidation nos. Method I: Old or Classical Method Rule : name the metal with suffixes ous or ic + name of non-metal + IDE Cu3B SnS2 Cuprous boride Stannic sulfide

Binary Salts (M + NM)

For metals with variable oxidation nos. Method II : Stock or Roman Numeral Method Rule : name of metal + (Roman numeral of the oxid no) + Name of stem of non-metal + IDE PbBr2 AuCl3 Lead (II) bromide Gold (III) chloride

Binary Acids (H + NM)

Dry form (when acid is not dissolved in water) Rule: Hydrogen + name of non-metallic element + IDE HCl HBr Hydrogen chloride Hydrogen bromide

Binary Acids (H + NM)

Aqueous Form (when acid is dissolved in water to form an acidic solution) Rule: Hydro + name of the non-metal with suffix ic + acid HCl(aq) HBr(aq) Hydrochloric acid Hydrobromic acid

Non-metal + Non-metal
Greek prefixes are used to indicate the number of atoms in each element present in a molecule of a compound Numeric Prefixes 1 - mono 4 - tetra 7 - hepta 10 - deca 2 - di 5 - penta 8 - octa 11 - undeca 3 - tri 6 - hexa 9 - nona 12 - dodeca

Non-metal + Non-metal
Rule: Name the more positive element first and followed by the name of the more negative element Use the Greek prefixes listed above, to indicate the number of atoms of each type of element present in the formula of the compound.

Non-metal + Non-metal
Rule: The prefix -MONO is often omitted when it applies to the first element in a compound. Use the suffix -IDE to the second element. N2O dinitrogen monoxide CO carbon monoxide SO2 sulfur dioxide CO2 carbon dioxide

Hydrides
Hydrogen reacts with many metals to form binary compounds called hydrides. In these compounds, the hydrogen is more electronegative than the metal and it is assigned an oxidation number of 1. Rule: name the metal + hydride RbH Rubidium hydride CsH Cesium hydride LiH Lithium hydride

Systematic Naming of Compounds

Ternary Compounds compound which is composed of three or more elements

Ternary Acids or Oxy-Acids

Dry form Rule: Hydrogen + Oxy-ion in ATE form H2CO3 Hydrogen carbonate H3PO4 Hydrogen phosphate Rule: Hydrogen + Oxy-ion in ITE form H2SO3 Hydrogen sulfite H3PO3 Hydrogen phosphite

Ternary Acids or Oxy-Acids

Aqueous form The negative ion is in the form of suffix ATE Rule: name the root of the middle element + IC plus the word acid H2CO3(aq) Carbonic acid The negative ion is in the form of suffix ITE Rule: name the root of the middle element + OUS plus the word acid H2SO3(aq) Sulfurous acid

Ternary Salts
Salts of the oxy-acids (Metal + Oxy-ion) Metals with fixed oxidation number. Rule: name the metal or (+) ion + name of the negative (-) ion NaNO3 Sodium nitrate NaNO2 Sodium nitrite

Ternary Salts
Salts of the oxy-acids (Metal + Oxy-ion) Metals with fixed oxidation number. Metals with variable oxidation numbers Rule: name the metal or positive ion (Roman numeral) + name of the negative ion. FeCO3 Iron (II) carbonate