Chemical Nomenclature of Ionic Compounds

Nomenclature, a collection of rules for naming things, is important in science and in many other situations. The next pages describe an approach that is used to name simple ionic and molecular compounds, such as NaCl, CaCO₃, and N₂O₄. The simplest of these are binary compounds, those containing only two elements, but we will also consider how to name ionic compounds containing polyatomic ions, and one specific, very important class of compounds known as acids (subsequent chapters in this text will focus on these compounds in great detail). We will limit our attention here to inorganic compounds, compounds that are composed principally of elements other than carbon, and will follow the nomenclature guidelines proposed by IUPAC. The rules for organic compounds, in which carbon is the principle element, will be treated in a later chapter on organic chemistry.

Ionic Compounds

To name an inorganic compound, we need to consider the answers to several questions. First, is the compound ionic or molecular? If the compound is ionic, does the metal form ions of only one type (fixed charge) or more than one type (variable charge)? Are the ions monatomic or polyatomic? If the compound is molecular, does it contain hydrogen? If so, does it also contain oxygen? From the answers we derive, we place the compound in an appropriate category and then name it accordingly.

Compounds Containing Only Monatomic Ions

The name of a binary compound containing monatomic ions consists of the name of the cation (the name of the metal) followed by the name of the anion (the name of the nonmetallic element with its ending replaced by the suffix –ide). Some examples are given in the table below:

Formula	Name	Formula	Name
NaCl	sodium chloride	Na2O	sodium oxide
KBr	potassium bromide	CdS	cadmium sulfide
CaI2	calcium iodide	Mg3N2	magnesium nitride
CsF	cesium fluoride	Ca3P2	calcium phosphide
LiCl	lithium chloride	Al4C3	aluminum carbide

Compounds Containing Polyatomic Ions

Compounds containing polyatomic ions are named similarly to those containing only monatomic ions, i.e. by naming first the cation and then the anion. Examples are shown in the table below:

Formula	Name	Formula	Name
KC2H3O2	potassium acetate	NH4Cl	ammonium chloride
NaHCO3	sodium bicarbonate	CaSO4	calcium sulfate
Al2(CO3)3	aluminum carbonate	Mg3(PO4)2	magnesium phosphate

Compounds Containing a Metal Ion with a Variable Charge

Most of the transition metals and some main group metals can form two or more cations with different charges. Compounds of these metals with nonmetals are named with the same method as compounds in the first category, except the charge of the metal ion is specified by a Roman numeral in parentheses after the name of the metal. The charge of the metal ion is determined from the formula of the compound and the charge of the anion. For example, consider binary ionic compounds of iron and chlorine. Iron typically exhibits a charge of either 2+ or 3+ (see the Atoms and Compounds page for a reference) and the two corresponding compound formulas are FeCl₂ and FeCl₃. The simplest name, “iron chloride,” will, in this case, be ambiguous, as it does not distinguish between these two compounds. In cases like this, the charge of the metal ion is included as a Roman numeral in parentheses immediately following the metal name. These two compounds are then unambiguously named iron(II) chloride and iron(III) chloride, respectively. Other examples are provided in the table below.

Compound	Name
FeCl2	iron(II) chloride
FeCl3	iron(III) chloride
Hg2O	mercury(I) oxide
HgO	mercury(II) oxide
SnF2	tin(II) fluoride
SnF4	tin(IV) fluoride

Out-of-date nomenclature used the suffixes –ic and –ous to designate metals with higher and lower charges, respectively: Iron(III) chloride, FeCl₃, was previously called ferric chloride, and iron(II) chloride, FeCl₂, was known as ferrous chloride. Though this naming convention has been largely abandoned by the scientific community, it remains in use by some segments of industry. For example, you may see the words stannous fluoride on a tube of toothpaste. This represents the formula SnF₂, which is more properly named tin(II) fluoride. The other fluoride of tin is SnF₄, which was previously called stannic fluoride but is now named tin(IV) fluoride.

Ionic Hydrates

Ionic compounds that contain water molecules as integral components of their crystals are called hydrates. The name for an ionic hydrate is derived by adding a term to the name for the anhydrous (meaning “not hydrated”) compound that indicates the number of water molecules associated with each formula unit of the compound. The added word begins with a Greek prefix denoting the number of water molecules (summarized in the table below) and ends with “hydrate.” For example, the anhydrous compound copper(II) sulfate also exists as a hydrate containing five water molecules and named copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate. Washing soda is the common name for a hydrate of sodium carbonate containing 10 water molecules; the systematic name is sodium carbonate decahydrate.

Formulas for ionic hydrates are written by appending a vertically centered dot, a coefficient representing the number of water molecules, and the formula for water. The two examples mentioned in the previous paragraph are represented by the formulas:

$$\text{copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate} \qquad CuSO_4 \cdot 5\, H_2 O$$

$$\text{sodium carbonate decahydrate} \qquad Na_2 CO_3 \cdot 10\, H_2O$$

Number	Prefix	Number	Prefix
1 (sometimes omitted)	mono-	6	hexa-
2	di-	7	hepta-
3	tri-	8	octa-
4	tetra-	9	nona-
5	penta-	10	deca-

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