Major Formal Oxidation States
Anions
-1 ions
acetate C2H3O2-1 or CH3COO-1
NH2-1
N3-1
amide
azide
C7H6O2-1
BrO3-1
Br-1
benzoate
bromate
bromide
-2 ions
carbide(dicarbide)
C2-2
hydroxide
OH-1
carbonate
hypoiodite
IO-1
chromate
hydrogen carbonate
HCO3-1
HCO3-1
HSO4-1
IO3-1
I-1
dichromate
NO3-1
NO2-1
BrO4-1
ClO4-1
IO4-1
MnO4-1
SCN-1
manganate
oxalate
CO3-2
CrO4-2
Cr2O7-2
S2O7-2
SiF6-2
HAsO4-2
HPO4-2
MnO4-2
C2O4-2
oxide
O-2
peroxide
O2-2
persilicate
SiO4-2
selenate
SeO4-2
selenite
SeO3-2
hypoiodite
IO-1
bicarbonate
hydrogen sulfate
BrO2-1
Cl-1
iodate
nitrate
chlorate
ClO2-1
ClO3-1
cyanide
CN-1
perbromate
cyanate
OCN-1
perchlorate
fluoride
F-1
periodate
hypobromite
BrO-1
ClO-1
permanganate
bromite
chloride
chlorite
hypochlorite
iodide
nitrite
thiocyanate
disulfate
hexafluorosilicate
hydrogen arsenate
hydrogen phosphate
-3 ions
selenide
Se-2
arsenate
silicate
SiO3-2
Si-2
arsenite
silicide
sulfide
SO4-2
S-2
sulfite
SO3-2
sulfate
+1 ions
+2 ions
+3 ions
barium
Ba
beryllium
Be+2
antimony(III)
cadmium
calcium
Cd+2
Ca+2
arsenic(III)
francium
Cu+1
Fr+1
gold(I)
Au+1
cerium(II)
Ce+2
boron
hydrogen
H+1
Li+1
chromium(II)
Cr+2
Co+2
cerium(III)
Hg2+2
K+1
copper(II)
Cu+2
Au+2
cobalt(III)
Rb+1
Na+1
iron(II)
Fe+2
Pb+2
gold(III)
cesium
copper(I)
lithium
mercury(I)
potassium
rubidium
sodium
silver
thallium(I)
Ag+1
Tl+1
cobalt(II)
gold(II)
lead(II)
magnesium
manganese(II)
mercury(II)
nickel(II)
aluminum
bismuth
chromium(III)
gallium(III)
iron(III)
Mg+2
Mn+2
manganese(III)
Hg+2
Ni+2
scandium
tin(II)
Sr+2
Sn+2
zinc
Zn+2
strontium
H2(g)
oxygen gas
O2(g)
nitrogen gas
N2(g)
boride
BO3-3
B-3
sulfur solid
S8(s)
phosphorus solid
P4(s)
arsenide
borate
nitride
phosphate
PO4-3
P-3
fluorine gas
F2(g)
telluride
C4H4O6-2
Te-2
chlorine gas
Cl2(g)
thiosulfate
S2O3-2
phosphite
PO3-3
PO2-3
bromine liquid
Br2(l)
tartrate
phosphide
hypophosphite
I2(s)
iodine solid
Look on the periodic table for the symbol
of all other elements.
-4 ions
monocarbide
C-4
Latin Names
+1
NH4
+1
Cs
+2
Special Elemental Forms
hydrogen gas
N-3
Cations
ammonium
AsO4-3
AsO3-3
As-3
+4 ions
Selected Cations
+3
Al
Sb+3
carbon
C
cuprous
cerium(IV)
Ce+4
cupric
As+3
Bi+3
lead(IV)
ferrous
manganese(IV)
Pb+4
Mn+4
B+3
Ce+3
thorium(IV)
Th+4
mercurous
tin(IV)
Sn+4
Ti+4
mercuric
Ge+4
Pt+4
stannic
Po+4
U+4
plumbic
Cr+3
Co+3
titanium(IV)
Ga+3
Au+3
platinum(IV)
Fe+3
Mn+3
uranium(IV)
germanium(IV)
polonium(IV)
zirconium(IV)
+4
Zr+4
ferric
stannous
plumbous
chromous
chromic
Ni+3
Sc+3
manganous
cobaltous
uranium(III)
Ti+3
U+3
vanadium(III)
V+3
nickel(III)
titanium(III)
manganic
cobaltic
Common Acids
+1
Cu
Cu+2
acetic
hydrobromic
HBr(aq)
Fe+2
Fe+3
hypobromous
HBrO(aq)
bromous
HBrO2(aq)
Hg2+2
bromic
HBrO3(aq)
Hg+2
Sn+2
perbromic
HBrO4(aq)
hydrochloric
HCl(aq)
Sn+4
Pb+2
hypochlorous
HClO(aq)
chlorous
HClO2(aq)
Pb+4
Cr+2
chloric
HClO3(aq)
perchloric
HClO4(aq)
Cr+3
Mn+2
hydrofluoric
HF(aq)
hydroiodic
HI(aq)
Mn+3
Co+2
hypoiodous
HIO(aq)
iodous
HIO2(aq)
iodic
HIO3(aq)
nitric
HNO3(aq)
nitrous
HNO2(aq)
periodic
phosphoric
phosphorous
HIO4(aq)
Co+3
CH3COOH(aq) or HC2H3O2(aq)
sulfuric
sulfurous
H3PO4(aq)
H3PO3(aq)
H2SO4(aq)
H2SO3(aq)
Naming Rules
Positive ions
Monatomic
Single charge ions
There is only one ion
charge; therefore, no
Roman numeral is used.
Multiple charges ions
There are two or more ion charges. Roman
numerals are used to distinguish between
the different ions for the same element.
Na+1 sodium ion
Mg+2 magnesium ion
H+1 hydrogen ion
Cu+1 copper(I) ion
Cu+2 copper(II) ion
Fe+2 iron(II) ion
An older system uses
a Latin stem for the element, -ous for the
lesser charge and -ic for the greater charge.
Pb+2 plumbous ion
Sn+2 stannous ion
Cr+2 chromous ion
Mn+2 manganous ion
ion
Co+2 cobaltous ion
Two or more atoms
There very few
polyatomic + ions.
NH4+1ammonium
ion
H3O+1 hydronium
ion
Hg2+2 mercury(I) ion
Fe+3 iron(III) ion
Cu+1 cuprous ion
Hg2+2 mercurous ion
Fe+2 ferrous ion
Negative Ions
Polyatomic
Cu+2 cupric ion
Hg+2 mercuric ion
Hg2+2 is two mecury
atoms attached to
each other. They
each have a charge of
+1.
Monatomic
The suffix -ide is
added to the
stem name of
the element.
H-1 hydride ion
F-1 fluoride ion
O-2 oxide ion
N-3 nitride ion
C-4 carbide ion
Fe+3 ferric ion
Pb+4 plumbic ion
Sn+4 stannic ion
Cr+3 chromic ion
Mn+3 manganic
Polyatomic
Containing oxygen
The stem name varies
according to the
number of oxygens
present.
least oxygen hypo__ite
ion
less oxygen __ite ion
more oxygen __ate ion
most oxygen per__ ate
ion
ClO-1
ion
ClO2-1
ClO3-1
ClO4-1
ion
SO3-2
SO4-2
hypochlorite
chlorite ion
chlorate ion
perchlorate
sulfite ion
Generic Names
These -ions do NOT fit
any common naming
system in use. They are
names that have stayed in
the literature.
OH-1
CN-1
hydroxide ion
cyanide ion
SCN-1 thiocyanate ion
OCN-1 cyanate ion
O2-2
peroxide ion
O2-1
superoxide ion
C2H3O2-1 acetate ion
Cr2O7-2 dichromate ion
C2O4-2 oxalate ion
MnO4-1permanganate ion
Hydrogen Polyatomic
Contains hydrogen and oxygen
The ion name starts with
hydrogen or bi- followed by a
space then and the polyatomic
ion name.
HCO3-1 hydrogen carbonate ion
HSO4-1 hydrogen sulfate ion
HPO4-2 hydrogen phosphate ion
H2PO4-1dihydrogen phosphate
ion
-2
HAsO4
hydrogen arsenate ion
H2AsO4-1dihydrogen arsenate
ion
sulfate ion
Co+3 cobaltic ion
Naming Compounds
Salts
Binary
There are two parts to the name: the
cation name followed by the anion name.
The word ion is dropped from the name of
both the cation and anion names.
NaCl sodium chloride
LiBr sodium bromide
Sn3N2 tin(II) nitride
LiH lithium hydride
CaH2 calcium hydride
Acids
Binary
As a solid, liquid or gas they are named as
binary salts.
HCl hydrogen chloride
HF hydrogen fluoride
H2S hydrogen sulfide
Dissolved in water, they have the prefix
hydro- added and the suffix -ide is change to
the suffix -ic.
HCl(aq) hydrochloric acid
HF(aq) hydrofluoric acid
H2S(aq) hydrosulfuric acid
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All rights reserved.
Polyatomic
As a solid, liquid or gas they are
named as polyatomic salts.
HClO hydrogen hypochlorite
HClO2 hydrogen chlorite
HClO3 hydrogen chlorate
HClO4 hydrogen perchlorate
Dissoved in water, the term
hydrogen is dropped and the
suffixes -ate and -ite are changed
to -ic and -ous.
HClO(aq) hypochlorous acid
HClO2(aq) chlorous acid
HClO3(aq) chloric acid
HClO4(aq) perchloric acid
Nonmetal compounds
Nonmetal compounds
The more metallic element is written first,
except for hydrogen. The number of each atom
type is identified by a Greek prefix. The prefix
mono is dropped for the first element.
prefixes:
1=mono
2=di
3=tri
4=tetra
5=penta
6=hexa
7=hepta
8=octa
9=nona
10=deca
N2O4 dinitrogen tetroxide*
CO carbon monoxide*
CO2 carbon dioxide
SO2 sulfur dioxide
P2O5 diphosphorus pentoxide*
*Mono, penta and tetra are changed to mon,
pent and tetr when used as the prefix for
oxygen: this makes for a smoother vowel sound.