MASTERING CHEMISTRY By-- S.K.

SINHA 1

Language of Inorganic
INORGANIC NOMENCLATURE
Common Cations
Names Symbols
Lithium ion, sodium ion, etc. Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+
Beryllium ion, magnesium ion, etc. Be2+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+
Hydronium ion H+
Aluminum ion Al3+ Iron(II), Iron(III) Fe2+, Fe3+
Copper(I), Copper(II) Cu+, Cu2+ Silver ion Ag+
2+ 2+
Mercury(I), Mercury(II) Hg2 , Hg Lead(II), Lead(IV) Pb2+, Pb4+
Ammonium ion NH4+ Cadmium ion Cd2+
Zinc ion Zn2+ Nickel(II), Nickel(IV) Ni2+, Ni4+
Gold(I), Gold(IV) Au+, Au4+ Cobalt(II), Cobalt(III) Co2+, Co3+
Tin(II), Tin(IV) Sn2+, Sn4+ Chromium(II), Chromium(III) Cr2+, Cr3+

Common Monatomic Anions

Name Symbol Name Symbol Name Symbol
Hydride H- Iodide I- Telluride Te2-
Fluoride F- Oxide O2- Nitride N3-
Chloride Cl- Sulfide S2- Phosphide P3-
Bromide Br- Selinide Se2- Arsenide As3-

Common Polyatomic Anions

Name Formula Name Formula Name Formula
Nitrate NO3- Sulfate SO42- Nitrite NO2-
Permanganate MnO4- Carbonate CO32- Dichromate Cr2O72-
Hydroxide OH- Chromate CrO42- Sulfite SO32-
Cyanide CN- Phosphate PO43- Chlorite ClO2-
Perchlorate ClO4- Peroxide O22- Hypochlorite ClO-
Thiocyanate SCN- Chlorate ClO3- Acetate C2H3O2-
Bicarbonate HCO3- Bisulfate HSO4- Arsenate AsO43-
Oxalate C2O42- Bromate BrO3-

Common Acids
Sulfuric H2SO4 Perchloric HClO4 Hydrocyanic HCN
Phosphoric H3PO4 Chloric HClO3 Chlorous HClO2
Nitric HNO3 Hydrobromic HBr Hypochlorous HClO
Hydrochloric HCl Hydroiodic HI Nitrous HNO2

Common Bases
Lithium hydroxide LiOH Magnesium hydroxideMg(OH)2
Sodium hydroxide NaOH Calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2
Potassium hydroxide KOH Strontium hydroxide Sr(OH)2
Cesium hydroxide CsOH Rubidium hydroxide RbOH

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2 MASTERING INORGANIC CHEMISTRY By-- S.K.SINHA

CHEMISTRY OXIDATION NUMBERS: CATIONS

1+
Name Symbol Name Symbol
ammonium NH4+ dichlorotetramminecobalt (III) Co(NH3)4Cl2+
cesium Cs+ hydrogen H+
copper (I) (cuprous) Cu+ gold (I) (aurous) Au+
diamminesilver (I) Ag(NH3)2+ hydronium H3O+
indium (I) In+ lithium Li+
potassium K+ silver Ag+
sodium Na+ thallium Tl+

2+
Name Symbol Name Symbol
barium Ba2+ chloropentamminecobalt (III) Co(NH3)5Cl22+
beryllium Be2+ calcium Ca2+
iridium (II) Ir2+ chromium (II) (chromous) Cr2+
tetramminecopper (II) Cu(NH3)42+ cobalt (II) (cobaltous) Co2+
copper (II) (cupric) Cu2+ iron (II) (ferrous) Fe2+
magnesium Mg2+ lead (II) (plumbous) Pb2+
platinum (II) Pt2+ manganese (II) (manganous) Mn2+
strontium Sr2+ mercury (I) (mercurous) Hg22+
tin (II) Sn2+ mercury (II) (mercuric) Hg2+
titanium (II) Ti2+ nickel (II) (nickelous) Ni2+
tungsten (II) W2+ vanadium (II) V2+
zinc Zn2+ zirconium Zr2+

3+
Name Symbol Name Symbol
aluminum Al3+ hexamminecobalt (III) Co(NH3)63+
boron B3+ antimony (III) (antimonous) Sb3+
gallium (III) Ga3+ arsenic (III) (arsenous) As3+
gold (III) (auric) Au3+ cerium (III) (cerrous) Ce3+
indium (III) In3+ chromium (III) (chromic) Cr3+
iridium (III) Ir3+ cobalt (III) (cobaltic) Co3+
iron (III) (ferric) Fe3+ manganese (III) Mn3+
phosporus (III) P3+ rhodium (III) Rh3+
thallium (III) Tl3+ uranium (III) U3+
titanium (III) Ti3+ vanadium (III) V3+

4+
Name Symbol Name Symbol
germanium (IV) Ge4+ cerium (IV) (cerroussic) Ce4+
iridium (IV) Ir4+ lead (IV) (plumbic) Pb4+
platinum (IV) Pt4+ thorium (IV) Th4+
titanium (IV) Ti4+ tin (IV) (stannic) Sn4+
tungsten (IV) W4+ uranium (IV) U4+
vanadium (IV) V4+ zirconium (IV) Zr4+
5+
Name Symbol Name Symbol
bismuth Bi5+ antimony (V) (antimonic) Sb5+
phosphorus (V) P5+ arsenic (V) (arsenic) As5+

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tungsten (V) W5+ uranium (V) U5+ vanadium (V) V5+

CHEMISTRY OXIDATION NUMBERS: ANIONS

1-
Name Symbol Name Symbol
acetate CH3COO- amide NH2-
azide N3- benzoate C6H5COO-
bromate BrO3- bromide Br-
chlorate ClO3- chloride Cl-
cyanate OCN- cyanide CN-
fluoride F- dihydrogen phosphate H2PO4-
formate HCOO- hydride H-
hypochlorite ClO- hydrogen carbonate (bicarbonate) HCO3-
iodate IO3- hydrogen sulfide HS-
iodide I- (bisulfide or hydrosulfide)
nitrate NO3- hydroxide (hydoxyl when aqueous) OH-
nitrite NO2- perchlorate ClO4-
permanganate MnO4- thiocyanate (thiocyanato) SCN-
triiodide I3- vanadate VO3-
chlorite ClO2- hydrogen sulfate (bisulfate) HSO4-

2-
Name Symbol Name Symbol
carbide (saltlike) C22- carbonate CO32-
chromate CrO42- dichromate Cr2O72-
imide NH2- hexachloroplatinate (IV) PtCl62-
manganate MnO42- hexafluorosilicate SlF62-
metasilicate SiO32- monohydrogen phosphate HPO42-
oxalate C2O42- oxide O2-
peroxide O22- peroxydisulfate S2O82-
phthalate C8H4O42- polysulfide Sx2-
selenate SeO42- sulfate SO42-
sulfide S2- sulfite SO32-
tartrate C4H4O62- tellurate TeO42-
tetraborate B4O72- thiosulfate S2O32-
tungstate WO42- zincate ZnO22-

3-
aluminate AlO33- arsenate AsO43-
borate BO33- citrate C6H5O73-
nitride N3- hexacyanoferrate (III) Fe(CN)63-
phosphate PO43- (ferricyanide)
phosphide P3-
4-
carbide (covalent) C4- hexacyanoferrate (II) Fe(CN)64-
orthosilicate SlO44- (ferrocyanide)
pyrophosphate (diphosphate) P2O74-

5-
tripolyphosphate P3O105-

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4 MASTERING INORGANIC CHEMISTRY By-- S.K.SINHA

NAMING COMPLEX IONS

Transition metal ions typically form coordination compounds which consist of a complex ion – a
transition metal ion with attached ligands, and counter ions – cations or anions needed to
produce a neutral compound.
Example: [Ag(NH3)2]Cl In this case, [Ag(NH3)2]+ is the complex ion consisting of the
+
transition metal ion Ag and two attached neutral NH3 ligands. Note, when bringing together the
complex ion with the counter ion, the complex ion is always enclosed in brackets [ ] while names
of common ligands are enclosed in parenthesis ( ). The counter ion in this example is the
chloride anion, Cl-.
Complex Ion Nomenclature:
Complex cations, such as Cu(H2O)62+ , are named by giving the number and name of the
groups attached to the central metallic atom followed by the name of the central atom, with its
oxidation number indicated by a Roman numeral in parenthesis. The name of this complex
cation above is hexaaquocopper(II).
Complex anions, such as CoF63- , are named by giving the number and name of the groups
attached to the central metallic atom followed by the name of the central atom, adding an –ate
ending and its oxidation number in parentheses. The name of this complex anion above is
hexafluorocobaltate(III).
Ligands are ions or neutral molecules having lone electron pairs and act as Lewis bases.
These lone electron pairs can be donated to the empty d orbitals of a transition metal ion, which
in turn acts as an electron pair accepter, a Lewis acid. This electron pair sharing between metal
and ligand is called a coordinate covalent bond.
The number of bonds formed by metal ions to ligands in complex ions varies from two to eight
depending on the charge, size, and electron configuration of the transition metal ion. This
number of ligands attached to the central metal ion is referred to as the coordination number.
Two, four and six are the most common coordination numbers. Often the number of ligands
attached is two times the metal’s oxidation number.
Simplified IUPAC Rules for Naming Coordination Compounds:
1. As with ionic compounds, the cation is always named before the anion.
1. In naming a complex ion, the ligands are named before the metal ion.
2. In naming ligands, an -o is added to the root name of an anion. For a neutral ligand, the
name of the molecule is used, with the exception of H2O, NH3, CO and NO. Names of
some common ligands are listed on the next page.
Anions Neutral Molecules
Fluoro F- aqua H2O
-
Chloro Cl ammine NH3
Bromo Br- benzene C6H6
Iodo I- carbonyl CO
2-
Carbonato CO3 ethylenediamine H2NCH2CH2NH2 or en
Cyano CN- methylamine CH3NH2
Hydrido H- dimethylamine (CH3)2NH
Hydroxo OH-
Nitrato NO3-
Nitro NO2-
Oxalate C2O42-
Oxo O2-
Sulfato SO42-
Thiocyanato SCN-
Azido N3-
Thiosulfato S2O32-

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3. The prefixes mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-, and hexa- are used to denote the number of
simple ligands. The prefixes bis-, tris-, tetrakis-, etc., are also used, especially for more
complicated ligands or ones that already contain di-, tri-, etc.
4. The oxidation state of the central metal ion is designated by a Roman numeral in
parentheses.
5. When more than one type of ligand is present, they are named alphabetically. Prefixes
do not affect the order.
6. If the complex ion has a negative charge, the suffix –ate is added to the name of the
metal. Sometimes the Latin name is used to identify the metal.

Latin Names for Some Metal Ions Found in Anionic Complex Ions
copper cuprate
gold aurate
iron ferrate
lead plumbate
silver argentate
tin stannate

7. In the case of complex-ion, isomerism, the names cis or trans may precede the formula
of the complex-ion name to indicate the spatial arrangement of the ligands. Cis means
the ligands occupy adjacent coordination positions; trans means opposite positions.

Examples of rules:
[CrCl2(H2O)4]+ tetraaquadichlorochromium (III)
[CrCl4(H2O)2]- diaquatetrachlorochromate (III)
[Cr(H2O)(NH3)5]3+ pentaammineaquachromium (III)
-
[Ga(OH)Cl3] trichlorohydroxogallate (III)
2-
cis-[PtBrCl(NO2)2] cis-bromochlorodinitroplatinate (II)
trans-[Co(OH)Clen2]+ trans-chlorobisethylenediaminehydroxo cobalt (III)
[Mn(CO)3(C6H6)]+ benzenetricarbonylmanganese (I)
[Ni(CO)4] tetracarbonylnickel (0)
[Zn(NH3)4]Cl2 tetraamminezinc chloride
NH4[AuCl4] ammonium tetrachloroaurate (I)

Exercise: Name the following. Exercise: Write formulas for the following.
1. K4[Ni(CN)4] 1. potassium hexacyanoferrate(III)
2. (NH4)3[Fe(SCN)6] 2. sodium hexafluoroaluminate
3. Na2[Ni(CN)4] 3. Pentaaquabromomanganese(III) sulfate
4. [Fe(ox)3]3- 4. hexaamminechromium(III) nitrate
5. [Co(NH3)5Cl]Br2 5. sodium tetrahydroxochromate(III)
6. [Cr(H2O)4Cl2]Cl 6. trans-dichlorobis(ethylenediamine)cobalt (III) chloride
7. [Pt(NH3)2]Cl2 7. hexaammineruthenium(III) tetrachloronickelate(II)
8. Na2[MoOCl4] 8. tetraamminecopper(II) pentacyanohydroxoferrate(III)
9. [Cr(H2O)6](NO3)3 9. potassium diaquatetrabromovanadate(III)
10. [Zn(en)2]Br2 10.diamminezinc iodide

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