Coordination Compound

nomenclature
COORDINATION COMPOUNDS

Metal ion Ligand

Atom, ion or molecule

Central atom bound to the metal
COORDINATION COMPOUNDS

The nomenclature of a salt and

a coordination compound
are different.
 SALTS NOMENCLATURE

Fe3+ ion requires 3 Cl–

FeCl3

iron(III) chloride

Salt (ionic) nomenclature only indicates

the stoichiometry of the compound.
 COORDINATION COMPOUND
NOMENCLATURE
Coordination compound nomenclature
communicates the environment of the
central ion.

Cl 3-
hexachloroferrate(III)
Cl Cl ion
Fe the iron ion is coordinated
Cl Cl to six chloride ligands
Cl
 COORDINATION COMPOUND
NOMENCLATURE
Coordination compound nomenclature
communicates the environment of the central ion.

H H H H 3+
O H O
H O
Fe hexaaquairon(III) ion
H O O O H
H H H H

the iron ion is coordinated

to six water ligands
COORDINATION COMPLEXES
COMPLEX COMPONENT

Cation/anion sequence

Ligand names

Cationic/anionic complexes

Alphabetical sequencing

Square brackets
 LIGANDS
Three types:
Anionic
Ligands with a negative charge
Cationic
Ligand with a positive charge
Neutral
Ligands which are neutral upon
dissociation normally possess one or
more lone pairs of electrons
 EXAMPLE

[Pt(NH3)2Cl3]+ + Cl-

Pt(NH3)2Cl4

Pt(NH3)Cl4 + NH3
COORDINATION COMPLEXES: FORMULAS

Formula writing:
1. symbol for central atom placed first
2. followed by ligands that arrange in
alphatical order
3. place brackets, [ ], around the
coordination sphere
 NOMENCLATURE

In naming the entire complexes

the name of the cation is given first and the

anion second, no matter whether the cation
or the anion is the complex species.
 NOMENCLATURE

In naming the entire complexes

The charge of the cation(s) is balanced by the

charge of the anion.
 NOMENCLATURE
In the complex ion

the name of the ligand then central metal

atom. (This procedure is reversed from
writing formulae.)
 NEGATIVE LIGANDS

Ligand names generally end with

‘o’ if the ligand is negative

e.g:
chloro for Cl-, cyano for CN-,
hydrido for H-
 LIGANDS
 Anions (-ide is replaced with –o)
F- => fluoro OH- => hydroxo
Cl- => chloro [CH3O]- => methoxo
Br- => bromo CN- => cyano
I- => iodo HSO3- => bisulfito
O-2 => oxo O2- => superoxo
O2-2 => peroxo
 LIGANDS
 Anions (-ate replaced with –ato and –ite to -
ito)
CO3-2 => carbonato
[CNO]- => cyanato
[NO3]- => nitrato
[NO2]- => nitrito
[SO3]- => sulfito
 LIGANDS
 Miscellaneous Anions
H- => hydrido or hydro
C6H5- => phenyl (ph)
C 5 H5 - => cyclopentadienyl
N3- => nitrido
N 3- => azido
[NH2]- => amido
 LIGANDS
 Neutral Molecules
Water, H2O => aqua
Ammonia, NH3 => ammine
Carbon Monoxide, CO => carbonyl
Nitrogen Monoxide, NO => nitrosyl
Ethylenediamine, 2HNCH2CH2NH2 => (en)
Pyridine => (py)
1,10-phenanthroline => (phen)
2,2'-bipyridine => (bipy)
Triphenylphosphine => (PPh 3)
 NOMENCLATURE
A Greek prefix

(mono, di, tri, tetra, penta, hexa, etc.)

indicates the number of each ligand
(mono is usually omitted for a single ligand
of a given type).
 NOMENCLATURE

If the name of the ligand itself contains

the terms mono, di, tri . . . . .

 example: triphenylphosphine, then the

ligand name is enclosed in parentheses and its
number is given with the alternate prefixes bis,
tris, tetrakis instead.

e.g: NiCl2(PPh3)2 is named

dichlorobis(triphenylphosphane)nickel(II).
 NOMENCLATURE
ligands are listed in alphabetical order,
regardless of charge or multiplicity

A Roman numeral or a zero in parentheses is used

to indicate the oxidation state of the central metal atom

e.g: [Cr(NH3)3(H2O)3]Cl3 complex

Triamminetriaquachromium(III) chloride
oxidation state of Cr
 NOMENCLATURE

If the complex ion is negative, the name of

the metal ends in 'ATE' for example: ferrate,
cuprate, nickelate, cobaltate etc……..
If the complex ion is positive, the name of the
metal ends in ‘IUM' for example: aluminium,
rubidium etc……..
 EXAMPLES
Some metals in anions have special names
B Borate Au Aurate
Ag Argentate Fe Ferrate
Pb Plumbate Sn Stannate
Cu Cuprate
 SPECIAL BONDING CONDITIONS

Bridging units – symbol 

Delocalized bonding – symbol 

e.g: [(NH3)5Co-O-O-Co(NH3)5]4+
-peroxobis[pentaaminecobalt(III)]
e.g: (H3N)3Co(OH)3Co(NH3)3
Triamminecobalt(III)--trihydroxotriamminecobalt(III)
 EXAMPLES
Neutral molecule
[Ru(NH3)4(HSO3)2]
bis(bisulfito)tetraammineruthenium(II)

Anionic coordination sphere

K3[Fe(CN)6]
potassium hexacyanoferrate(III)

Cationic coordination sphere

[Cu(NH3)4]SO4
tetraamminecopper(II) sulfate
 EXAMPLES
Cationic coordination sphere & Anionic
coordination sphere
[Ti(H2O)6][CoCl6]
hexaaquatitanium(III) hexachlorocobaltate(III)

[Pt(py)4][PtCl4]
Tetrakis(pyridine)platinum(II) tetrachloroplatinate(II)
 EXERCISES
 1. [Pt(NH3)5Cl]Br3
 2. [Pt(H2NCH2CH2NH2)2Cl2]Cl2
 3. [Co(H2NCH2CH2NH2)3]2(SO4)3
 4. K4[Fe(CN)6]
 5. Na2[NiCl4]
 6. Pt(NH3)2Cl4
 7. Fe(CO)5
 8. (NH4)2[Ni(C2O4)2(H2O)2]
 9. [Ag(NH3)2][Ag(CN)2]
 ANSWERS
 1. pentaamminechloroplatinum(IV) bromide
 2. dichlorobis(ethylenediamine)platinum(IV) chloride
 3. tris(ethylenediamine)cobalt(III) sulfate
 4. potassium hexacyanoferrate(II)
 5. sodium tetrachloronickelate(II)
 6. diamminetetrachloroplatinum(IV)
 7. pentacarbonyliron(0)
 8. ammonium diaquabis(oxalato)nickelate(II)
 9. diamminesilver(I) dicyanoargentate(I)