Nomenclature of Inorganic Compounds

_ are made up of two elements, a metal and a non-metal

Binary compounds

• Composed of hydrogen and an acid-forming non-metal (typically from the halogen family: fluorine, chlorine, iodine, bromine).

• To form the name of the acid:

  • Remove the last three letters of the non-metal’s name to get the stem.

    • Example: Chlorine → Chlor-

  • Use the following rule: hydro + stem of the non-metal + -ic + acid

binary acids

Examples:

• HCl → Hydrochloric acid

• HBr → Hydrobromic acid

• HF → Hydrofluoric acid

binary acids

• Composed of a metal ion and a non-metal ion

• Naming rule: name of metal + stem of the non-metal + -ide

binary salts

Examples:

• NaCl → Sodium chloride

• KI → Potassium iodide

• LiBr → Lithium bromide

binary salts

Use the English name of the metal followed by a Roman numeral (in parentheses) to indicate the oxidation state of the metal

stock method

Examples:

• FeCl₂ → Iron (II) chloride

• FeCl₃ → Iron (III) chloride

• SnBr₂ → Tin (II) bromide

• SnBr₄ → Tin (IV) bromide

stock method

Use the stem of the Latin name of the metal, ending with suffixes -ous (for lower oxidation state) or -ic (for higher oxidation state), followed by the name of the non-metal ending in -ide

classical (old) method

Examples:

• FeCl₂ → Ferrous chloride

• FeCl₃ → Ferric chloride

• SnBr₂ → Stannous bromide

• SnBr₄ → Stannic bromide

classical (old) method

__ are used to distinguish compounds of the same elementary composition

Greek prefixes

Compounds of Two Non-metals

To name the compound correctly, state the name of the __

less electronegative element first, followed by the other element ending in -ide

what is this?

Greek prefixes

How do you write CO? (two non-metals)

Carbon monoxide

How do you write CO₂? (two non-metals)

Carbon dioxide

How do you write N₂O₄? (two non-metals)

Dinitrogen tetroxide

How do you writePCl₅? (two non-metals)

Phosphorus pentachloride

made up of three elements: metal, non-metal, and oxygen

ternary compounds

Composed of hydrogen, an acid-forming non-metal, and oxygen

ternary acids (oxyacids)

Use the stem of the central atom ending in either -ous or -ic followed by the word acid

• -ous: Used for lower numbers of oxygen atoms.

• -ic: Used for higher numbers of oxygen atoms.

ternary acids (oxyacids)

• HNO₂ → Nitrous acid

• HNO₃ → Nitric acid

• HClO₂ → Chlorous acid

• HClO₃ → Chloric acid

ternary acids (oxyacids)

Additional Prefixes:

• Hypo-: Indicates the presence of the very lowest number of oxygen atoms.

• Per-: Indicates the presence of the very highest number of oxygen atoms.

ternary acids (oxyacids)

• HClO → Hypochlorous acid

• HClO₄ → Perchloric acid

ternary acids (oxyacids)

composed of a metal, non-metal, and oxygen.

ternary salts (salts of oxyacids)

Name of the metal followed by the stem of the central atom ending in either -ite or -ate depending on the number of oxygen atoms.

• Retain the prefixes per- and hypo-; change suffixes from -ous to -ite and from -ic to -ate.

ternary salts (salts of oxyacids)

• NaNO₂ → Sodium nitrite

• NaNO₃ → Sodium nitrate

• KClO → Potassium hypochlorite

• KClO₂ → Potassium chlorite

• KClO₃ → Potassium chlorate

• KClO₄ → Potassium perchlorate

ternary salts (salts of oxyacids)