RULES FOR NAMING COORDINATION COMPLEXES
The name of the positive ion is written before the name
of the negative ion.
The name of the ligand is written before the name of the
metal to which it is coordinated.
Ligands are listed in the following order: negative ions,
neutral molecules, and positive ions. Ligands with the
same charge are listed in alphabetical order.
The Greek prefixes mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-, hexa-,
and so on are used to indicate the number of ligands
when these ligands are relatively simple. The Greek
prefixes bis-, tris-, andtetrakis- are used with more
complicated ligands.
The names of negative ligands always end in o, as
in fluoro (F-), chloro (Cl-), bromo (Br-), iodo (I-), oxo (O2-
), hydroxo (OH-), and cyano (CN-).
A handful of neutral ligands are given common names,
such as aquo (H2O), ammine (NH3), andcarbonyl (CO).
The oxidation number of the metal atom is indicated by
a Roman numeral in parentheses after the name of the
metal atom.
The names of complexes with a net negative charge end
in -ate. Co(SCN)42-, for example, is the
tetrathiocyanatocobaltate(II) ion. When the symbol for
the metal is derived from its Latin name,-ate is added to
the Latin name of the metal. Thus, negatively charged
iron complexes are ferrates and negatively charged
copper complexes are cuprates.
