Ligand Names

F-

Fluoro

Cl-

Chloro

Br-

Bromo

I-

Iodo

CN-

Cyano

SCN (S-Bond)

Thiocyanato

NCS (N-bond)

isothiocyanato

OH-

Hydroxo

H2O

aqua

CO

Carbonyl

NO+

nitrosyl

NO2- (N-bond)

Nitro

ONO-

nitrito

C5H5N

pyridine

NH3

ammine

CH3NH2

methylamine

NH2CH2CH2NH2

ethylenediamine (en). (Bidentate: Binds twice)

NH3 CH3NH2

ammine, methylamine

Order of naming

-Nonionic coordination compounds are written as one word

-ionic coordination

compounds (i.e. a complex ion and a counter ion) are written as two words

-Cation is listed first

Anion vs Cation

Central metal is listed by name with roman numeral indicating charge

-Anion: suffix -ate is added onto the metal

name or replaces any -ium, -en, or -ese ending

EX: chromate and tungstate

-Cation: Normal metal name is used (no -ate)

EX: hexaamminecobalt(III) chloride.

Ligand Names

ligand name comes before metal

-Neutral ligand: same name as the parent molecule

-Anionic: ending -o

-if the uncoordinated anion ends in ate it becomes ato, ide becomes ido, and ite becomes ito

EX: Sulfate to Sulfato

-some anionic get ending of -o: cyano, fluoro, chloro, bromo, iodo,

oxo, peroxo, superoxo, hydroxo, hydrido, and methoxo, for CN-, F-, Cl-, Br-, I-, O2-, O2 2-, O2-, OH-, H-, and CH3O-

Special ligand name cases

-H20 is aqua

-ammonia is ammine

-carbon monoxide is carbonyl

Ordering of ligands

put in alphabetical order

-ll prefixes (di, tris, etc.) are NOT counted in this alphabetization

If multiple ligands

the prefixes di-, tri-, tetra-, penta- and hexa- are used for two, three, four, five and six, respectively.

-these prefixes are never

used to indicate the relative number of counterions

Ligands already containing numerical prefixes

the prefixes used are bis-, tris-, tetrakis-, pentakis-, hexakis-, etc.

-these prefixes are not counted when ordering the

ligands alphabetically

EX: tris(ethylenediamine)