NOMENCLATURE

Lecture 7

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In this lecture, we talk about
• Symbols of elements, how they are derived, and how we
write them.
• Element valency and bond type, oxidation number and
compound formation.
• Binary compounds and its two main classes;
– binary ionic
– binary covalent.
• Naming binary ionic compounds that are monatomic with
single or more than one oxidation state.
• Naming binary covalent compounds.
• Naming compounds with polyatomic ions
– Anions containing oxygen
– Binary acids
– Oxyacids (ternary acids) 2
– bi- and di- hydrogens
 Nomenclature
• Naming of chemical compounds is known as
Chemical nomenclature.

• Many chemical compounds are possible and

many are synthesized every day.

• Chemists use specific rules and "conventions" to

name different compounds.

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Nomenclature of only inorganic compounds will be
discussed in this lecture

- Naming elements and their symbols

– Valence electrons

– Binary compounds – Ionic and covalent compounds

– Polyatomic ions – Anions containing oxygen

- Binary acids
- Oxyacids
- bi- and di- hydrogen

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 Name and Symbols for the Elements
• The names of the chemical elements have come from many
sources.
• Often an element’s name is derived from a Greek, Latin, or German
word that describes some property of the element.
• E.g. Gold – aurum – shinning dawn (Latin)
• Lead – plumbum – heavy (Latin)
• Chlorine & iodine – describing their colors (Greek)
• It is also common for elements to be named for the place it was first
found.
• Francium – France
• Germanium – Germany
• Californium – California
• Some of the heaviest elements are named after famous scientists.
• E.g. Einsteinium – Einstein
• Lawrencium - Lawrence
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• Chemists have invented a set of abbreviations or element symbols for
the chemical elements
• These symbols usually consist of the first letter or the first two letters
of the element names
• The first letter is always capitalized and the second is not.
• E.g. fluorine – F
• oxygen – O
• carbon – C
• neon – Ne
• silicon – Si
• Sometimes, however, the two first letters used are not the first two
letters in the names.
• E.g. zinc – Zn
• chlorine – Cl
• cadmium – Cd
• platinum – Pt
• The symbols for other elements are based on the original Latin or
Greek name
• E.g. Current name Original name Symbol
gold aurum Au
lead plumbum Pb
Sodium natrium Na
Iron ferrum Fe
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 Valence Shell Electrons
• What are Valence shell electrons
– are electrons that are found in the outer energy level of an atom and are capable
of bonding.
– These are the only electrons involved in bonding

• Bonding type depends on extent to which bonding electrons are

shared.
– Ionic bond – electrons are not shared but transferred wholly.
– Covalent bond- electrons which are equally shared

• Valence - A measure of the combining power of a particular

element.
– The valence of an atom is determined by the number of electrons in the
outermost (valence) shell
– Oxidation number – The number that indicates how many electrons are lost or
gained by an atom during a chemical reaction.

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• The valence of an element corresponds to it’s oxidation
number.
Group IA IIA IIIB IVB VB VIB VIIB VIII

Valence
+1 +2 +3 +4 -3 -2 -1 0

• The positive sign indicates that if an ion was formed

during bonding, electrons would be lost by the element
and the resulting ion formed would take on a positive
charge.

• The negative sign indicates that if an ion was formed

during bonding, electrons would be gained by the
element and the resulting ion formed would take on a
negative charge.

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 Naming Binary Compounds

• Binary compound is a compound formed from two

elements only.

• The name of any binary compound ends in "ide".

• Binary compounds are divided into two broad classes:

– Binary ionic compounds – compounds that contain a metal

and a non-metal.
– Binary covalent compounds – compounds that contain two
non-metals.

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 Naming Binary Ionic Compounds (Salts)
• 1. Monatomic Positive Ions with Single oxidation State
Positive Ions
– Monatomic cations (a single atom with a positive charge) take the name of the
element plus the word "ion"
Examples:
Na+ = sodium ion
Zn+2 = zinc ion
Mg2+=Magnesium ion

• 2. Monatomic Positive Ions with More than one Oxidation State

– If an element can form more than one (1) positive ion (more than one oxidation
state), the charge is indicated by the Roman numeral in parentheses (Stock
System) followed by the word "ion"
Examples:
Fe2+ = iron(II) ion
Fe3+ = iron (III) ion

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• Traditional (Old) system /-ous, -ic system names of positive ions
using Latin roots.

The suffix –ic is added to the ion with higher oxidation

number.

The suffix –ous is added to the ion with lower

oxidation number

Traditional Stock System

• Fe3+ ferric iron (III)
• Fe2+ ferrous iron (II)
• Sn4+ stannic tin (IV)
• Sn2+ stannous tin (II)

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3. Monatomic Negative Ions

• Monatomic anions (a single atom with a negative

charge) change their ending to "-ide"
Examples:

• O2- = oxide ion

• Cl- = chloride ion
• N3- = nitride ion
• P3- = phosphide ion
• C4- = carbide ion

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 Naming binary ionic compounds

• To name an ionic binary compound, the metallic element (cation) is

named first followed by the non-metallic element (anion) name with its
ending changed by the suffix “-ide”.
• E.g.
NaCl – sodium chloride
MgBr2 – magnesium bromide

• To name an ionic binary compound with more than one oxidation

number, the oxidation number for this multi-valent element is placed as
a Roman Numeral, in brackets, after the name of the element.
• E.g.
CuO – copper (II) oxide
CuO2 – copper (I) oxide

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 Writing Formulas of Binary Ionic Compounds

• The formula of an ionic compound represents the simplest whole

number ratio of ions present.

• The net charge on an ionic compound is zero.

• When writing the formula of ionic compound, the symbol of the

cation is written first followed by the symbol of the anion.

• The valence or the charge of the ions have to be taken into account
in order to give a net charge of zero.

• E.g. Magnesium chloride – MgCl2

– Magnesium ion has a valency of Mg2+ and chloride ion has a valency of Cl-,
therefore two chloride ions will combine with one magnesium ion.

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 Binary Covalent Compounds

Greek Prefixes
• Compounds containing two non-metals
held together by a covalent bond mono 1
(sharing of electrons).
di 2

• The prefix system is used to name tri 3

these compounds. tetra 4
penta 5
• Using this method does not require hexa 6
oxidation numbers, but the following
hepta 7
prefixes have to be known
octa 8
nona 9
deca 10

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Binary Covalent Compounds

• The following rules cover the naming of these

compounds.
1. The first element is written as it is.
2. The second element is named as an ion, ending changed to –
ide.
3. Prefixes are used to denote the numbers of atoms present.
4. The prefix mono- is used on the second element only. E.g. CO
is carbon monoxide, not monocarbon monoxide.

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• Examples
– BF3: Boron trifluoride
– CO2: Carbon dioxide
– SiCl4:Silicon tetrachloride
– I2O5: Di-iodine pentoxide

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Writing Formula of Binary Covalent Compound

1. Write the symbol for the first element.

2. If the first name of the compound has a prefix, write the number of
the prefix as the symbol’s subscript.
3. Write the symbol for the second element.
4. Determine the prefix of the second element and write this number
after the second element symbol as a subscript.

E.g. What is the correct formula for dinitrogen pentasulfide?

1. N
2. N2
3.N2S
4. N2S5

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 Binary compound?

yes

Metal present?

Yes No

Does the metal form more than one Binary Covalent compound
cation?

No Yes

Monatomic cations with one oxidation Monatomic cations with more than one oxidation state
state. Determine the charge on the cation; use a Roman
Use the element name for the cation numeral after the element name for the cation

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 Naming Compound with Polyatomic Ions

• Polyatomic ions
– Are a group of two or more elements that have an overall ionic charge.

• Most times the polyatomic ion will function as an anion, but there are
a few polyatomic ions that are cations.
E.g.
NH4+ - ammonium ion
SO42- - sulphate ion

• Compounds with polyatomic ions are also ionic compounds with a

net charge of zero.

• When naming, write the name of the cation first, followed by the
anion’s name with respect to various polyatomic ions.

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 1. Polyatomic Anions Containing Oxygen

• Polyatomic anions that are made up of an element

(usually a non-metal) and oxygen.

• They carry an overall negative charge.

• The anion is named by the root name of the non-oxygen

element.
• E.g.
NO3- is nitr-ate,
SO42- is sulf-ate,
ClO3- is chlor-ate

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 When two polyatomic ions contain the same non-oxygen
element:

Ion Oxidation Name

– the element with higher oxidation #
number has the suffix-ate
SO42- S is 6+ sulfate
– the element with lower oxidation
number has the suffix – ite
SO32- S is 4+ sulfite

• Examples of compounds
– BaSO4 - Barium sulphate NO3- N is 5+ nitrate
– MgSO3 – Magnesium sulphite
– NaNO3 – Sodium nitrate NO2- N is 3+ nitrite
– KNO2 – Potassium nitrite

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When more than two polyatomic ions containing the same
non-oxygen element:

Ion Oxidation Name

– The element with the highest #
oxidation number has the prefix
per-
ClO4- Cl is 7+ perchlorate

– The element with the lowest

oxidation number has the prefix ClO3- Cl is 5+ chlorate
hypo-

Examples of compounds ClO2- Cl is 3+ chlorite

• CuClO4 – copper(I) perchlorate
• Mg(ClO)2 – magnesium
hypochlorite ClO1- Cl is 1+ hypochlorite
• Fe(ClO3)3 – Iron (III) chlorate

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2. Binary Acids

• Compounds containing hydrogen as the positive ion

(cation) and a monatomic non-metal as the negative
ion.

– The prefix hydro- and the suffix –ic is added to the

root name of the non-metal and add the word acid.
• E.g.
HCl – hydrochloric acid HF – hydrofluoric acid
HBr – hydro bromic acid H2S – hydro sulfuric acid
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3. Oxyacids (Ternary Acids)
• Compounds containing hydrogen and a poly atomic anion.
• Compounds containing hydrogen, oxygen and one other element.

– When the polyatomic ion ends in –ate, the suffix is changed to –ic

– When the polyatomic ion ends in –ite, the suffix is changed to –ous

• The third element and the number of oxygen atoms in the molecule give
the acid its name.

• E.g.
SO42- - sulfate H2SO4 – sulfuric acid

SO32- - sulfite H2SO3 – sulfurous acid

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4. bi-and di- hydrogen (Acid Salts – polyprotic
acid)
• Acid salts – compound in which a metal ion replaces one or
more, but not all of the hydrogen ions in a polyprotic acid.

• Polyprotic Acid- Acid having more than one hydrogen.

E.g. H2SO4, H2CO3, H3PO4

• One hydrogen remaining = “hydrogen” or prefix “bi-”

– E.g. HCO3- – hydrogen carbonate or bicarbonate
HSO4- – hydrogen sulphate or bisulfate

• Two hydrogens remaining = “dihydrogen”

– E.g. H2PO4- - dihydrogen phosphate
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 Naming acid salts.

• To name the compound, the metal is named first, using

its usual element name followed by the respective
prefixes.

• E.g.
– NaHCO3 sodium bicarbonate or
sodium hydrogen carbonate

– KHSO3 potassium bisulfate or

potassium hydrogen sulfite

– NH4H2PO4 ammonium dihydrogen phosphate

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 Common Polyatomic Ions

Name Formula of Oxidation

• Apart form the ion #
mentioned hydroxide OH- 1-
polyatomic ions,
ammonium NH4+ 1+
there are a
acetate CH3COO- 1-
number of others (C2H3O2-)
commonly found
permanganate MnO4- 1-
in chemistry.
chromate CrO42- 2-
dichromate Cr2O72- 2-
bicarbonate HCO3- 1-
bisulfate HSO4- 1-
cyanide CN- 1-
thiocyanate SCN- 1-
oxalate C2O42- 2-
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 Summary
• Topics covered today include:
– Nomenclature
• Is the naming of chemical compounds, and they
are done by following specific rules and
conventions
– Valences shell electrons
• The electrons that are capable of bonding, and
they are found in the outer energy level of the atom

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 Reference
• Chang. R.; Chemistry (10th Ed).; Chapter 2.;
Atoms, Molecules and Ions.; pp.; 59 – 68

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