Naming inorganic compounds
Pavla Balínová
What is important ??
• symbols and English names of elements (see Periodic
table, groups IA – VIIIA and IIIB – IIB)
• names of common cations and anions
• common names of selected compounds (e.g. bicarbonate)
Oxidation state (oxidation number)
• shows the total number of electrons which have been
removed from an element (= positive ox. state) or
added to an element (= negative ox. state) to get to its
present state
• Oxidation = an increase in ox. state (loss of electrons)
• Reduction = a decrease in ox. state (receiving of electrons)
• Electronegativity is a chemical property which
describes the power of an atom to attract electrons
towards itself
Biogenic elements
• Macroelements: H, O, C, N, P are building
blocks in proteins, saccharides, lipids and
nucleic acids
• Ions are important components of extra- and
intracellular fluids: Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cu2+,
Zn2+, Fe2+/Fe3+, Cl-, PO43-, HCO3-
Nomenclature of binary compounds
• names of binary compounds are derived from the
names of cations and anions
• all binary compounds end in –ide
e.g.
• CaO = Calcium oxide
• NaCl = Sodium chloride
• KBr = Potassium bromide
• H2O2 = Hydrogen peroxide
• HCl = Hydrogen chloride (g), hydrochloric acid (l)
Nomenclature of binary compounds
Peroxides
• (O1-)22
peroxide bond -O-O-
e.g.
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Lithium peroxide
• Sodium peroxide
• Magnesium peroxide
• Barium peroxide
H2O2
Li2O2
Na2O2
MgO2
BaO2
Nomenclature of binary compounds
• composed of 2 nonmetals → Greek prefixes
are used to indicate the number of atoms of
each element in the compound
• Greek prefixes: mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-,
hexa-, hepta-, octa-, nona-, decae.g.
• NO2 = Nitrogen dioxide
• N2O3 = Dinitrogen trioxide
• N2O5 = Dinitrogen pentoxide
• CO = Carbon monoxide
Nomenclature of binary compounds
• composed of metal ions with fixed or variable
oxidation numbers and nonmetal ion are named by
both the –ous / -ic suffixes or the Stock system
(ox. number is written in a parenthesis)
e.g.
FeO = Ferrous oxide / Iron (II) oxide (lower ox. state)
Fe2O3 = Ferric oxide / Iron (III) oxide (higher ox. state)
Nomenclature of ternary compounds
• are composed of H+ and/or metal ion with
fixed or variable oxidation number, and a
polyatomic ion (e.g. NO3-)
• Bases: KOH = Potassium hydroxide
Ca(OH)2 = Calcium hydroxide
• Oxoacids: HNO2 = Nitrous acid (N3+)
HNO3 = Nitric acid (N5+)
H2SO3 = Sulfurous acid (S4+)
H2SO4 = Sulfuric acid (S6+)
Oxoacids and their salts
H2CO3 = Carbonic acid → CO32- = carbonate
H2SO3 = Sulfurous acid (S4+) → SO32- = sulfite
H2SO4 = Sulfuric acid (S6+) → SO42- = sulfate
HClO = Hypochlorous acid (Cl1+) → (ClO)- = hypochlorite
• HClO2 = Chlorous acid (Cl3+) → (ClO2)- = chlorite
• HClO3 = Chloric acid (Cl5+) → (ClO3)- = chlorate
• HClO4 = (Hy)perchloric acid (Cl7+) → (ClO4)- = perchlorate
●
Hydrogensalts (acid salts)
H3PO4 → H2PO4- = dihydrogen phosphate
→ HPO4 2- = hydrogen phosphate
H2SO4 → HSO4- = hydrogen sulfate
H2SO3 → HSO3- = hydrogen sulfite
H2CO3 → HCO3- = hydrogen carbonate
Hydrates of salts
are salts that contain 1 or more molecules of H2O bound
to their molecule
● number of molecules of water is expressed by Greek
prefix + hydrate
e.g.
CuSO4 x 5 H2O Copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate
CaSO4 x ½ H2O Calcium sulfate hemihydrate
CaHPO4 x 2 H2O Calcium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate
●
Double salts
• are salts containing two different cations or anions
• 2 cations
Na2Mg(CO3)2 Sodium magnesium carbonate
KMgF3
Potassium magnesium fluoride
NaNH4HPO4 Sodium ammonium hydrogen phosphate
2 anions
AlO(OH) Aluminium oxide hydroxide
Ca2F2(SO4) Calcium fluoride sulfate
●
Thioacids and thiosalts
• are compounds in which one O atom is replaced
by S atom (→ prefix thio-)
• H2SO4 → H2S2O3 = Thiosulfuric acid
• Na2SO4 → Na2S2O3 = Sodium thiosulfate
• S2O32- = thiosulfate anion