AN INTRODUCTION TO NAMING INORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Rules for naming inorganic compounds were set down in 1957 by the IUPAC committee.
Simple binary compounds combine two elements in a formula, eg. NaCl. However, there are different
nomenclature (naming) rules for different combinations of elements in binary compounds. Some binary
compounds are even made by combining an element with a polyatomic ion eg. Na2SO4.
The following boxes will help you name different types of inorganic compounds.
Type 1
Group IA - IIIA combined with Group IVA - Group VIIA
1) Write cation name as its element name from periodic table.
2) Anion name also written as element name but ending changed to "ide".
Try these:
Type 2
Sodium oxide________________________
LiBr_______________________________
Mg3N2______________________________
Potassium phosphide________________
Transition Metal combined with Group IVA - Group VIIA
1) Write cation name as its element name from periodic table.
2) Roman numerals in parentheses used to indicate charge of cation.
3) Anion name written as element name but ending changed to "ide".
Try these:
Type 3
CrO3_______________________________
Chromium (III) oxide________________
SnO________________________________
Titanium (IV) chloride______________
Group IVA - Group VIIA combined with itself
1)
2)
3)
4)
Write least electronegative element name first ("cation").
Write most electronegative element name last ("anion").
Use Greek prefixes to indicate the numbers of "cations" and "anions".
When prefix ends in "o" or "a" followed by ion beginning with a vowel then drop the "o" or "a"
of prefix.
5) Mono seldom used with cation name
Try these:
Sulfur trioxide______________________
P4O10______________________________
OF2________________________________
Dinitrogen oxide____________________
Type 4
Group IA-IIIA combined with Polyatomic Ion
1) As in Type 1 and treat the polyatomic ion name as the anion name.
2) Treat NH4+ as a cation in Group IA-IIIA.
Try these:
Type 5
NaNO3______________________________
Calcium carbonate__________________
Magnesium hydroxide_______________
(NH4)2SO4_______________________
Transition Metal combined with Polyatomic Ion
1) As in Type 2 and treat the polyatomic ion name as the anion name.
Try these:
Type 6a
Copper (I) nitrate____________________
Ni2(CO3)3__________________________
Mercury (II) bicarbonate_____________
Cu3(PO4)2__________________________
Pure Binary Acids
1) Follow Type 1 rules.
Try these:
Type 6b
Hydrogen bromide__________________
HNO2______________________________
HClO_______________________________
Hydrogen sulfate___________________
Binary Acids Dissolved in Water
1) Follow Type 1 rules with the following changes:
Hydrogen becomes hydro
Anions ending in "ide" or "ate" become "ic acid".
Anions ending in "ite" become "ous acid".
Try these:
Hydrobromic acid___________________
HNO2 (aq)__________________________
HClO (aq)___________________________
Hydrosulfuric acid__________________