This document provides rules for naming inorganic compounds, including binary molecular compounds, ionic compounds, oxyanions, and acids. It explains that Greek prefixes are used to indicate the number of elements in binary compounds, with the more electronegative element written last with an -ide ending. For ionic compounds, the cation name comes first followed by the anion name with -ide ending. Oxyanion names follow patterns with -ate, -ite, per-, and hypo- prefixes indicating oxygen content. Acid names are derived from the related anion name by changing endings to -ic or -ous according to specific rules outlined in the document.

1. RULES IN NAMING
INORGANIC
COMPOUND
Prepared by:
STEFFHANIE D. TABLIGA

2. BINARY MOLECULAR
COMPOUNDS
O When a pair of elements form more than
one type of covalent compound, Greek
prefixes are used to indicate how many of
each element are in a compound.
O The more electronegative element is
written last and its ending is changed to –
ide.

3. EXAMPLES:
 N2O = Dinitrogen monoxide
 NO = Nitrogen monoxide
 N2O3 = Dinitrogen trioxide
 N205 = Dinitrogen
pentoxide

4. SOME OF THE GREEK PREFIXES
ARE GIVEN BELOW:
 Mono = 1
 Di = 2
 Tri = 3
 Tetra = 4
 Penta = 5
 Hexa = 6
 Hepta = 7
 Octa = 8

5. IONIC COMPOUNDS
O Metals give up electrons to form positively
charged cations.
O Non-metals gain electrons to form
negatively charged anions.
O Ionic compounds are formed from the
Coulombic interaction between cations
and anions.

6. WHEN WE NAME AN IONIC
COMPOUND, WE WRITE:
 The name of the cation comes first
followed by the name of the anion,
changing the name of the anion to end in
–ide for monotomic anions are not altered.
EXAMPLES:
• NaCl = Sodium chloride
• Znl2 = Zinc iodide
• NaNO3 = Sodium nitrate

7.  In those cases where the metal can
form cations of differing charges the
positive charge is given by a roman
numeral in parentheses.
EXAMPLES:
• CuO = Copper (II) Oxide
• Cu2O = Copper (I) Oxide
• Cr2O3 = Chromium (III) Oxide

8. OXYANIONS
OOxyanions are those polyatomic
anions containing oxygen. There
are a large number of oxyanions,
which makes it difficult to remember
of their names. Fortunately there is
a set of rules that makes this task
much easier.

9. EXAMPLES:
O ClO4 = Percholorate ion
O ClO3 = Chlorate ion
O ClO2 = Chlorate ion
O ClO = Hypochlorate ion

10. ACIDS
 A simplistic definition of an acid is a
ccompound that dissolves in water
to release H+ ions.
 The ending –ate is used for the
most common oxyanion of a given
element.
 NO3 = Nitrate ion

11.  SO42 = Sulfate ion
 CO32 = Carbonate ion
 PO43 = Phosphate ion
 ClO3 = Chlorate ion

12.  The ending –ite is used for the oxyanion
with the same charge, but one less
oxygen than the –ate oxyanion.
 NO2 = Nitrite ion
 SO32 = Sulfite ion
 PO33 = Phosphite ion
 ClO2 = Chlorite ion

13.  The prefix per- is used if there is an
oxyanion with the same charge but one
more oxygen than the –ate oxyanion,
while the prefix hypo- is used.
 A simplistic definition of an acid is a
compound that dissolves in water to
release H+ ions to an oxyanion to balance
its charge. The rules for naming simple
acids are based on the names of the
anions, they are given below.

14. o When the anion ends in –ide, change the
ending to –ic and add the prefix hydro- to
derive the name of the acid.
o Anion = chloride (Cl-) hydrochloric acid
(HCl)
o Anion = bromide (Br-) hydrobromic acid
(HBr)
o Anion = sulfide (s2) hydrosulfuric acid
(H2S)

15. o When the anion ends in –are, change the
ending to –ic to derive the name of the
acid.
o Anion = chlorate (CLO3) chloric acid
(HCLO3)
o Anion = sulfate (SO42) sulfuric acid
(H2SO4)
o Anion = nitrate (NO3) nitric acid (HNO3)
o When the anion ends in –ite, change the
ending to –ous to derive the name of the
acid.

16. • Anion = phosphate (PO33) Phosphorus
acid (H3PO3)
• Anion = chlorite (Cl02) Chlorous acid
(HClO2)
• Anion = hypochlorite (ClO) Hypochlorous
acid (HClO)

17. THANK YOU  
AND
GOD BLESS  