Arkansas State University Department of Chemistry and Physics

Ligands:

Halides:		Pseudohalides:
Ligand	Name	Ligand	Name
F-	fluoro	CN-	cyano
Cl-	chloro	SCN-	thiocyanato
Br-	bromo	NCS-	isothiocyanato
I-	iodo	OCN-	cyanato
		NCO-	isocyanato
Oxoanions:		Neutral ligands:
SO42-	sulfato	OH2	aqua
SO32-	sulfito	NH3	ammine
CO32-	carbonato	NH2CH2CH2NH2	ethylenediamine (en)
NO3-	nitrato	C5H5N	pyridine (py)
NO2-	nitro	NH2R, NHR2, NR3	amines
ONO-	nitrito	examples:      CH3NH2	methylamine
CH3COO-	acetato	(CH3)2NH	dimethylamine
CH3COCHCOCH3-	acetylacetonato (acac)	N(CH3)3	trimethylamine
NH2CH2COO-	glycinato (gly)	PH2R, PHR2, PR3	phosphines
C2O42-	oxalato (ox)	examples:            PPh3	triphenylphosphine
		PMe2Ph	dimethylphenylphosphine
Organometallic:		others:
CO	carbonyl		1,10-phenanthroline (phen)
C5H5-	cyclopentadienyl (Cp)	(CH3)2SO	dimethylsulfoxide (dmso)
		C4H8O	tetrahydrofuran (thf)
Sulfur ligands:		Oxygen ligands:
S2-	sulfido	O2-	oxo
RSH	thiol or mercaptan	OH-	hydroxo
SR-	thiolato or mercaptido	OR-	alkoxido

Prefixes:

Number of ligands		If ligand name has prefix or 'thio'
1	mono
2	di	bis
3	tri	tris
4	tetra	tetrakis
5	penta	pentakis
6	hexa	hexakis
7	hepta	heptakis
8	octa	octakis
9	nona	nonakis
10	deca	decakis

Name of Metal in Anionic Complex:

1st Row		2nd Row		3rd Row
Ti	titanate	Zr	zirconate	Hf	hafnate
V	vanadate	Nb	niobate	Ta	tantalate
Cr	chromate	Mo	molybdate	W	tungstate
Mn	manganate	Tc	technate	Re	rhenate
Fe	ferrate	Ru	ruthenate	Os	osmate
Co	cobaltate	Rh	rhodate	Ir	iridate
Ni	nickelate	Pd	palladate	Pt	platinate
Cu	cuprate	Ag	argentate	Au	aurate
Zn	zincate	Cd	cadmate	Hg	mercurate
		Sn	stannate	Pb	plumbate

Counterions:

Cations:		Anions:
Ph4P+	tetraphenylphosphonium	PF6-	hexafluorophosphate
Et4N+	tetraethylammonium	BF4-	tetrafluoroborate
Bu4N+	tetrabutylammonium	BPh4-	tetraphenylborate
		CF3SO3-	trifluoromethylsulfonate (triflate)

Isomers: (octahedral compounds)

cis	trans
fac	mer