INORGANIC NOMENCLATURE ~ NAMING INORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Every compound has its own CHEMICAL FORMULA and its own NAME. The nomenclature
(naming systems) for IONIC and MOLECULAR compounds are different.

IONIC COMPOUNDS:
These consist of any positive ion (except H+) combined with any negative ion. (If H+ is the
positive ion, the compound is an acid, as we will see later on page 6.)

The positive ion (cation) may be a monatomic metal ion (such as Na+) or a polyatomic ion (such as NH4+)

The negative ion (anion) may be a monatomic non-metal ion (such as Cl-) or a polyatomic ion (such
as SO42- or NO3-)

When writing formulas for ionic compounds, the net charge of the formula unit must be zero.
(Because the actual formula units are neutral! Oppositely charged ions will come together in a ratio that makes
neutral units of the compound. "Neutrality principle")
Ex: Ca 2+ and Cl - 2 Cl - and 1 Ca 2+ together have a net charge of zero
So the formula is CaCl 2

Case 1. Binary Ionic compounds: Representative (Type I) Metal + Non-Metal

Examples: KBr potassium bromide AlCl3 aluminum chloride Li3N lithium nitride

Note 1: Metal is always first (name unchanged), non-metal second (the ending of the non-metal is
dropped, and the –IDE ending is added).
Note 2: The name does not indicate how many of each ion are in a formula unit.

Exercise: Name the following:

NaF sodium fluoride MgS __magnesium sulfide_

SrI2 strontium iodide__ Ca3N2 __calcium nitride__

K2O __potassium oxide__ Al2O3 __aluminum oxide__

Ba3N2 __barium nitride__ Na3P sodium phosphide

Exercise: Give formulas for the following compounds (refer to periodic table only).

cesium phosphide __Cs3P__ calcium iodide _CaI2_ barium fluoride __BaF2__

magnesium nitride __Mg3N2__ aluminum bromide __AlBr3__ sodium selenide _Na2Se

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Case 2. Binary Ionic Compounds: Type II Metal + Non-Metal

In general, it is NOT possible to use the periodic table to predict what cations (i.e., what the charge
on the cation is) are formed by transition metals or the main group metals that are not in Group 1A
or 2A. Furthermore, unlike the Group 1A and 2A metals, these other metal elements usually form
more than one kind of stable ion. These kinds of metals (and their cations) are called Type II
metals (or cations). You will see that you canfigure out the charge on a Type II metal cation in a
given compound from either its formula or from its name.

A few metals not in Group 1A or 2A do form only one kind of stable ion. In this class, the
three you need to know are: Al3+, Zn2+, and Ag+ . Name ionic compounds with these cations as
in Case 1. Examples: ZnCl2 zinc chloride; Ag2S silver sulfide; AlF3 aluminum fluoride.

If the metal forms two ions (Type II), the naming systems are as follows:

Modern (Stock) system: A Roman numeral after the metal name, in parentheses, indicates the
charge on the metal ion. THIS IS THE SYSTEM YOU MUST LEARN IN THIS CLASS!
Examples: Fe3+ is iron(III) Sn4+ is tin(IV) Cu+ is copper(I)
Old system: -ous ending refers to the ion with lower charge.
This information is only
-ic ending refers to the ion with the higher charge. included so that if you see these
names elsewhere, you'll have
2+
Fe2+ ferrous Fe3+ ferric Cr chromous Cr3+ chromic some idea why. You do not
+2
need to learn these for my
Cu+ cuprous Cu2+ cupric Hg 2 mercurous Hg2+ mercuric class!!
2+
Sn2+ stannous Sn4+ stannic Pb plumbous Pb4+ plumbic

Note: The charge on a transition metal ion can be determined from the formula of the
compound it is in by using the charge on the anion and applying the "neutrality
principle" (for aformula unit).

Examples: In FeF 2 there are 2 F - ions per formula unit (net charge of-2) so the charge on the
(one) Fe must be +2 (the ionis Fe 2+) Name: iron(II) fluoride (or ferrous fluoride)

In Fe2O 3 there are 3 O 2- ions per formula unit (total charge = -6) so here the ionis Fe3+ (two of them
must add up to +6). Name: iron(III) oxide (or ferric oxide)

Exercise: Name the following compounds:

AgCl silver chloride FeBr3 iron(III) bromide

Cu3N copper(I) nitride Cr2 S3 __ chromium(III) sulfide__

Exercise: Give formulas for the following compounds:

chromium(III) oxide _ Cr2O3_ tin(II) fluoride __ SnF2__ iron(III) iodide _ FeI3__

zinc nitride _ Zn3N2__ copper(II) bromide __ CuBr2_ cobalt(II) oxide __ CoO__

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Case 3. Ionic Compounds with Polyatomic Ions.

Cases 1 and 2 above involve ionic compounds that consist of a metal cation and a non-metal
anion – two types of elements only. These are called binary compounds. Now let us turn to
ionic compounds that are formed from polyatomic ions: (mostly ternary compounds)

Note: As before, the charge on a transition metal ion can be determined from the formula of
the compound it is in, if the charge on the anion is known. You simply apply the
"neutrality principle". You must learn the charges (and names and formulas) of the
polyatomic anions!

NOTE: you need not memorize C2O42- (oxalate), although it appears in this handout.

As with all ionic compounds, the cation is named first, then the anion:

Examples:

(NH 4) 2 S ammonium sulfide K 3PO 4 potassium phosphate

Zn(NO 3) 2 zinc nitrate Fe 2(SO 4) 3 iron(III) sulfate (or ferric sulfate)
CuCO3 copper(II) carbonate (or cupric carbonate)

Note: In a formula, parentheses ( ) are used around a polyatomic ion only when there are 2
or more of that polyatomic ion in a formula unit (i.e., when the subscript is not 1).

Exercise: Name the following:

(NH4)2O _ ammonium oxide Na2 SO3 sodium sulfite

FeC2O4 __ iron(II) oxalate (or ___ferrous oxalate__)

CuNO2 copper(I) nitrite (or ___cuprous nitrite___) or bisulfate

Zn3(PO4)2 _ zinc phosphate Ca(HSO4) 2 __ calcium hydrogen sulfate__

Sn(NO2)2 __ tin(II) nitrite (or ___stannous nitrite___)

Exercise: Give formulas for the following:

copper(II) nitrate Cu(NO3)2 lithium phosphate Li3PO4

silver carbonate Ag2CO3 chromium(II) hydroxide Cr(OH)2

barium permanganate Ba(MnO4)2 mercury(II) cyanide Hg(CN)2

nickel(II) hydroxide Ni(OH)2 magnesium bicarbonate ___Mg(HCO3)2

potassium dichromate K2Cr2O7 aluminum hydrogen sulfate Al(HSO4)3

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MOLECULAR COMPOUNDS

When non-metal atoms share electrons with other non-metal atoms, they often form basic units
called molecules. Compounds composed of molecules are thus called molecular compounds.
We shall learn the nomenclature of (only) binary molecular compounds.

Exercise: Define a binary compound ___ A compound made up of only two kinds of atoms (i.e., would
separate chemically into exactly two elements) _

Case 1. Binary Molecular Compounds

As with binary ionic compounds, the second atom in the formula gets an –IDE ending.
Unlike ionic compounds, the number of each atom in each molecule (or formula unit) must
be specified with a prefix (because there is no single ratio of combination dictated by the
"neutrality principle" [atoms are neutral; there are NO IONS in a molecule!]; there are often
many molecular compounds with the same two kinds of atoms [NO2, NO, N 2O 4, N 2O, etc.]).

Ax By
(Prefix base on x)element name of A + (prefix base on y)rootname of B + ide

These are the prefixes you need to know:

1 is mono- 2 is di- 3 is tri- 4 is tetra- 5 is penta-
6 is hexa- 7 is hepta- 8 is octa- 9 is nona- 10 is deca-

Note: When there is only one atom of the first element, the mono prefix is omitted.

Examples: NF 3 nitrogen trifluoride I 2 S diiodine monosulfide

P 4O 10 tetraphosphorus decaoxide B 2Cl 6 diboron hexachloride

Exercise: Name the following:

N2O4 dinitrogen tetroxide PCl5 phophorus pentachloride

SO2 sulfur dioxide SO3 sulfur trioxide

CS2 carbon disulfide Br2O7 dibromine heptoxide

CO carbon monoxide P2O3 diphosphorus trioxide

Cl2O dichlorine monoxide SF6 sulfur hexafluoride

Exercise: Give formulas for the following:

iodine pentabromide IBr5 chlorine dibromide ClBr2 oxygen difluoride OF2

carbon tetrachloride CCl4 sulfur hexafluoride SF6 silicon dioxide SiO2

iodine heptafluoride IF7 nitrogen monoxide NO dinitrogen trioxide N2O3

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 Also: You must remember these three very important common names:
H2O (water) NH3 (ammonia) CH4 (methane)

Case 2. Diatomic Molecular Elements

Several common non-metal elements have basic units that are diatomic molecules. The name
of the element refers to the diatomic molecular element. For example, “hydrogen” refers to
H2 and “oxygen” refers to O2. (If we mean the atom, we say atomic hydrogen or atomic
oxygen). The common diatomic elements are the four halogens, oxygen, nitrogen, and
hydrogen.

Exercise: List the names and formulas of the 7 elements whose basic units are diatomic
molecules:

hydrogen (H2), nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), fluorine (F2), chlorine (Cl2), bromine
(Br2), and iodine (I2)

To remember: use the mnemonics “Have No Fear On Ice Cold Beer”

Exercise: Write the name or formula of each compound (or element) in the following paragraph.

Probably the most important element found uncombined in nature is O2. O2 is quite
reactive, forming compounds with the halogens F2, Cl2, Br2 and I2. O2 forms two
compounds with H2. Following the usual rules of nomenclature, the most common oxide
of hydrogen, whose
formula is H2O, would be named dihydrogen monoxide. The other oxide of hydrogen is
H2O2. O2 forms a series of compounds with N2, many of which are atmospheric
pollutants, including NO, N2O, NO2, N2O4, N2O5.

O2 (oxygen), F2 (fluorine), Cl2 (chlorine), Br2 (bromine), I2 (iodine), H2 (hydrogen), H2O

(dihydrogen monoxide), H2O2 (dihydrogen dioxide, by following the rules you
know, although that isn't actually the formal name—don't worry about it for now), N2
(nitrogen), NO
(nitrogen monoxide), N2O (dinitrogen monoxide), NO2 (nitrogen dioxide),
N2O4 (dinitrogen tetroxide), N2O5 (dinitrogen pentoxide)

ACIDS
As a group, ACIDS are a somewhat unusual subcategory of molecular compounds. They have
the (seemingly strange) property that when dissolved in water, at least some of the formula units
separate into a hydrogen ion, H+, and an anion. So even though they are molecular compounds,
we can think of them as being like an ionic compound formed from H+ and an anion. Since they
form at least some ions in aqueous solution, they are called "electrolytes" (soluble ionic
compounds are also called "electrolytes" for the same reason). The naming system for acids is
different from that of either ionic or molecular compounds. The key to naming all acids is
knowing the name of the anion from which it is derived.

Case 1: If the anion does NOT contain oxygen: Add the prefix “hydro” and suffix "-ic" to
the root of the anion name (and add the word "acid").

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 Ex: HCl. Anion is chloride, root is chlor. Name of acid is hydrochloric acid.
HCN. Anion is cyanide, root is cyan. Name of acid is hydrocyanic acid

Case 2: If the anion DOES contain oxygen (oxyanions): Look at the ending of the anion name:
If the ending is -"ate", add the suffix "-ic" to the root of the anion (and add the word "acid")
Ex: HNO 3. Anion is nitrate, root is nitr. Name of acid is nitric acid.
If the ending is -"ite", add the suffix "-ous" to the root of the anion (and add the word "acid")
Ex: HNO2. Anion is nitrite, root is nitr. Name of acid is nitrous acid.

Some acids, called strong acids, have the property that ALL of their formula units separate into
ions in aqueous solution. These acids are often used in industry and in the laboratory. You must
learn the names and formulas of the six common strong acids:
HCl hydrochloric acid HBr hydrobromic acid
H 2 SO 4 sulfuric acid HI hydroiodic acid
HNO 3 nitric acid HClO 4 perchloric acid
Other acids, called weak acids, have the property that only a few percent or less of their
dissolved formula units separate into ions—most of the formula units remain as intact molecules
in aqueous solution. You need not memorize which acids are weak acids! Why not? You can
use deductive reasoning here! If an acid is not one of the six strong ones that you memorized
above, then it must be weak!! Several common weak acids are:

HC2H3O2 acetic acid

H3PO4 phosphoric acid
H2CO3 carbonic acid
H2C2O4 oxalic acid
Exercise: Write the formulas for the underlined acids in the following paragraph:
In industry, hydrochloric acid is known as muriatic acid and is used in concrete work.
Since sulfuric acid is used in automobile batteries, it is commonly called battery acid.
Nitric acid is probably the most common oxidizing agent used in laboratories. Acetic
acid is the acid in vinegar. Phosphoric acid and carbonic acid are added to soft drinks to
provide a pleasantly tart taste. Oxalic acid is found in many plants, including rhubarb
and spinach. A high concentration of this acid is toxic.

HCl (hydrochloric acid); H2SO4 (sulfuric acid); HNO3 (nitric acid); HC2H3O2 (acetic acid);
H3PO4 (phosphoric acid); H2CO3 (carbonic acid); H2C2O4 (oxalic acid)

BASE

Bases are mostly identify as a metal bonded to an hydroxide ion (OH-). Same with acids, bases
are also electrolytes.

In naming bases, just name the metal’s element name and add hydroxide to identify it’s bonded
to a hydroxide ion.

Exercise: Write the chemical name of the following bases:

NaOH - Sodium hydroxide Mg(OH)2 - Magnesium hydroxide

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AgOH - Silver hydroxide KOH -Potassium hydroxide

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