Chemical nomenclature

(Naming compounds)

Chemistry Dept - FAST

Batterjee Medical College
Obhur, KSA
At the end of these lectures you should
be able to:
1. Write symbols for elements and ions.
2. Name and write chemical formulae for ionic
compounds
3. Name and writes chemical formulae of molecular
compounds of two nonmetals.
4. Name a compound, given its chemical formula.
Example: N2O4 is dinitrogentetroxide.
5. Write the chemical formula for a compound if you
are given the name of that compound.
Example: manganese (IV) oxide is MnO2.
 Metal Cations
• Metals with one possible
Charge (single charge):
– metals whose ions can only
have one possible charge
• Groups 1 Na+1 & gp 2
Mg+2, gp 3 Al+3,
• Transition metals Ag+1,
Zn+2, Sc+3
– cation name = metal name

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 Metal Cations
• Metals with more than
one charge:
– Find charge by
charge on anion.
– cation name = metal
name with Roman
numbers charge in
brackets

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Naming monatomic nonmetal anion
• Find the charge from position on the Periodic
table.
• To name anion, change ending on the element
name to –ide

Group 5= -3 Group 6= -2 Group 7 = -1

N3- = nitride O2- = oxide F- = fluoride

P3- = phosphide S2- = sulfide Cl- = chloride

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 Write the formula of a compound made from
aluminum ions and oxide ions
1. Write the symbol for the
metal cation and its charge Al+3 Group 3
2. Write the symbol for the
nonmetal anion and its
charge O2- Group 6
3. Charge (without sign)
becomes subscript for other Al+3 O2-
ion.
4. Reduce subscripts to Al2 O3
smallest whole number ratio
5. Check that the total charge Al = (2)∙(+3) = +6
of the cations cancels the
total charge of the anions. O = (3)∙(-2) = -6
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 Learning Check 1
What are the formulas for compounds made from the
following ions?

•potassium ion with a nitride ion

•calcium ion with a bromide ion

•aluminum ion with a sulfide ion

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 Solution 1

What are the formulas for compounds made from the

following ions?

K+ with N3- K3N

Ca+2 with Br- CaBr2

Al+3 with S2- Al2S3 8

 Learning Check 2

What are the formulas for compounds made from the

following ions?

1. copper(II) ion with a nitride ion

2. iron(III) ion with a bromide ion

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 Solution 2

What are the formulas for compounds made from the

following ions?

1. Cu2+ with N3- Cu3N2

2. Fe+3 with Br- FeBr3

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 Rules for Ionic Compounds
• made of cation and anion.
• some have one or more nicknames that are
only learned by experience
– NaCl = table salt, NaHCO3 = baking soda
• write systematic name by simply naming the
ions
– If cation is:
• metal with single charge = metal name [eg. Na+ (sodium)]
• metal with more than one charge (Transition Metals) = metal
name(charge) [eg.Cu+ Copper (I), Cu2+ Copper(II)]
• polyatomic ion = name of polyatomic ion [NH4+ ammonium]
– If anion is:
• nonmetal = part of nonmetal name + ide [eg. Flouride]
• polyatomic ion = name of polyatomic ion [eg. Sulphate]

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 Example 1:
CsF
1. Identify cation and anion
Cs = Cs+ because it is Group 1
F = F- because it is Group 7
2. Name the cation
Cs+ = cesium
3. Name the anion
F- = fluoride
4. Write the cation name first, then the anion name
cesium fluoride

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 Learning Check 3

Name the following compounds

1. KCl

2. MgBr2

3. Al2S3

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 Solution 3

1. KCl potassium chloride

2. MgBr2 magnesium bromide

3. Al2S3 aluminum sulfide

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 Example 2:
CuF2
1. Identify cation and anion
F = F- because it is Group 7
Cu = Cu2+ to balance the two (-) charges from 2 F-
2. Name the cation
Cu2+ = copper(II)
3. Name the anion
F- = fluoride
4. Write the cation name first, then the anion name
copper(II) fluoride

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 Learning Check 4

Name the following compounds

1. TiCl4

2. PbBr2

3. Fe2S3
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 Solution 4

1. TiCl4 titanium(IV) chloride

2. PbBr2 lead(II) bromide

3. Fe2S3 iron(III) sulfide

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 Compounds containing
polyatomic Ions

• Polyatomic ions are single ions that contain

more than one atom.

• Name and charge of polyatomic ion do not

change.

• Name any ionic compound by naming cation first

and then anion.

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 Some Common Polyatomic Ions
Name Formula Name Formula
acetate C2H3O2– hypochlorite ClO–
carbonate CO32– chlorite ClO2–
hydrogen carbonate chlorate ClO3–
HCO3–
( bicarbonate) perchlorate ClO4–
hydroxide OH– sulfate SO42–
nitrate NO3–
sulfite SO32–
nitrite NO2–
hydrogen sulfate
chromate CrO 2– HSO4–
4 (aka bisulfate)
dichromate Cr2O72– hydrogen sulfite
HSO3–
ammonium NH4+ (aka bisulfite)
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 Example 3:
Na2SO4
1. Identify the ions
Na = Na+ because in Group 1
SO4 = SO42- a polyatomic ion
2. Name the cation
Na+ = sodium, metal with single charge
3. Name the anion
SO42- = sulfate
4. Write the name of the cation followed by the
name of the anion
sodium sulfate
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 Example 4:
Fe(NO3)3
1. Identify the ions
NO3 = NO3- a polyatomic ion
Fe = Fe+3 to balance the charge of the 3 NO3-1
2. Name the cation
Fe+3 = iron(III)
3. Name the anion
NO3- = nitrate
4. Write the name of the cation followed by the
name of the anion
iron(III) nitrate
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 Learning Check 5

Name the following

1. NH4Cl

2. Ca(C2H3O2)2

3. Cu(NO3)2
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 Solution 5

1. NH4Cl ammonium chloride

2. Ca(C2H3O2)2 calcium acetate

3. Cu(NO3)2 copper(II) nitrate

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 Learning Check 6

What are the formulas for compounds made from

the following ions?

1. aluminum ion with a sulfate ion

2. chromium(II) with hydrogen carbonate

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 Solution 6

What are the formulas for compounds made from

the following ions?

1. Al+3 with SO42- Al2(SO4)3

2. Cr+2 with HCO3─ Cr(HCO3)2

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 Hydrates Prefix No. of
• hydrates are ionic compounds Waters
containing a specific number of waters
for each formula unit. hemi ½
• water of hydration often “driven off” by mono 1
heating.
• in formula, attached waters follow ∙ di 2
– CoCl2∙6H2O
tri 3
• -add hydrate after name of ionic
compound tetra 4
– CoCl2∙6H2O = cobalt(II) chloride hexa hydrate
– CaSO4∙½H2O = calcium sulfate hemi hydrate
penta 5
hexa 6
Hydrate Anhydrous hepta 7
CoCl2
CoCl2∙6H2O octa 8

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 Learning Check 7

1. What is the formula of magnesium sulfate heptahydrate?

2. What is the name of NiCl2•6H2O?

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 Solution 7

1. What is the formula of magnesium sulfate

heptahydrate? MgSO47H2O

2. What is the name of NiCl2•6H2O?

nickel(II) chloride hexahydrate

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Naming of covalent compounds
 Writing names of binary molecular
compounds of 2 nonmetals
1. Write name of first element in formula
– element furthest left and down on the Periodic Table
– use the full name of the element
2. Write name of the second element in the
formula with an -ide suffix
– as if it were an anion, however, remember these
compounds do not contain ions!
3. Use a prefix in front of each name to indicate the
number of atoms
_ never use the prefix mono- on the first element

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 Subscript - prefixes
• 1 = mono- • 6 = hexa-
– not used on first • 7 = hepta-
nonmetal
• 8 = octa-
• 2 = di-
• 9 = nona-
• 3 = tri-
• 10 = deca-
• 4 = tetra-
• 5 = penta-

• drop last “a” if name begins with vowel

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 Example 5:
BF3
1. Name the first element
boron
2. Name the second element with an –ide
fluorine  fluoride
3. Add a prefix to each name to indicate the
subscript
monoboron, trifluoride
4. Write the first element with prefix, then the
second element with prefix
– Drop prefix mono from first element
boron trifluoride

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 Learning Check 8

Name the following

1. NO2

2. PCl5

3. I2F7

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 Solution 8

1. NO2 nitrogen dioxide

2. PCl5 phosphorus pentachloride

3. I2F7 diiodine heptafluoride

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 Example 6:
dinitrogen pentoxide
• Identify the symbols of the elements
nitrogen = N
oxide = oxygen = O
• Write the formula using prefix number for
subscript
di = 2, penta = 5
N2O5

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 Learning Check 9

Write formulas for the following

1. dinitrogen tetroxide

2. sulfur hexafluoride

3. diarsenic trisulfide

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 Solution 9

1. dinitrogen tetroxide N2O4

2. sulfur hexafluoride SF6

3. diarsenic trisulfide As2S3

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 covalent formulae Ionic formulae
H2O Water NaCl Sodium chloride

Carbon dioxide CaCl2 Calcium chloride

CO2
MgO Magnesium oxide
Ammonia
NH3 Hydrochloric acid
HCl(aq)
Hydrogen
H2 H2SO4(aq) Sulphuric acid
Oxygen Nitric acid
O2 HNO3(aq)
Nitrogen Sodium hydroxide
NaOH
N2
Sulphur dioxide Calcium hydroxide
Ca(OH)2
SO2 Calcium carbonate
CaCO3
Aluminium oxide
Al2O3
Iron (III)oxide
Fe O