Anionic ligands If the anion name ends in -ide then as a ligand its name is changed to end in -o. For example the chloride anion, Cl− becomes chlorido. This is a difference from organic compound naming and substitutive naming where chlorine is treated as neutral and it becomes chloro, as in PCl3, which can be named as either substitutively or additively as trichlorophosphane or trichloridophosphorus respectively. Similarly if the anion names end in -ite, -ate then the ligand names are -ito, -ato.
Neutral ligands Neutral ligands do not change name with the exception of the following: • Water, "aqua" • Ammonia, "ammine" • Carbon monoxide bonded via carbon, "carbonyl" • Nitrogen monoxide bonded via nitrogen, "nitrosyl"
Examples of ligand names Sequence and position of ligands and central atoms Ligands are ordered alphabetically by name and precede the central atom name. The number of ligands coordinating is indicated by the prefixes
di-, tri-, tetra- penta- etc. for simple ligands or bis-, tris-, tetrakis-, etc. for complex ligands. For example: • [CoCl(NH3)5]Cl2 pentaamminechloridocobalt(3+) chloride where ammine (NH3)precedes chloride. The central atom come after the ligands. Where there is more than one central atom it is preceded by di- tri-, tetra- etc. • Os3(CO)12, dodecacarbonyltriosmium Where there are different central atoms they are sequenced using the electronegativity list. • [ReCo(CO)9] nonacarbonylrheniumcobalt
Bridging ligands—use of μ symbol Ligands may bridge two or more centres. The prefix μ is used to specify a bridging ligand in both the formula and the name. For example the dimeric form of
aluminium trichloride: : Al2Cl4(μ-Cl)2 : di-μ-chlorido-tetrachlorido-1κ2
Cl,2κ2
Cl-dialuminium This example illustrates the ordering of bridging and non bridging ligands of the same type. In the formula the bridging ligands follow the non bridging whereas in the name the bridging ligands precede the non bridging. Note the use of the kappa convention to specify that there are two terminal chlorides on each aluminium.
Bridging index Where there are more than two centres that are bridged a bridging index is added as a subscript. For example in
basic beryllium acetate which can be visualised as a tetrahedral arrangement of Be atoms linked by 6 acetate ions forming a cage with a central oxide anion, the formula and name are as follows: :[Be4(μ4-O)(μ-O2CMe)6] :hexakis(μ-acetato-κ
O:κ''
)-μ4-oxido-tetrahedro''-tetraberyllium The μ4 describes the bridging of the central oxide ion. (Note the use of the kappa convention to describe the bridging of the acetate ion where both oxygen atoms are involved.) In the name where a ligand is involved in different modes of bridging, the multiple bridging is listed in decreasing order of complexity, e.g. μ3 bridging before μ2 bridging.
Kappa, κ, convention The kappa convention is used to specify which ligand atoms are bonding to the central atom and in polynuclear species which atoms, both bridged and unbridged, link to which central atom. For monodentate ligands there is no ambiguity as to which atom is forming the bond to the central atom. However when a ligand has more than one atom that can link to a central atom the kappa convention is used to specify which atoms in a ligand are forming a bond. The element atomic symbol is italicised and preceded by kappa, κ. These symbols are placed after the portion of the ligand name that represents the ring, chain etc where the ligand is located. For example: • pentaamminenitrito-κ
O-cobalt(III) specifies that the nitrite ligand is linking via the oxygen atom Where there is more than one bond formed from a ligand by a particular element a numerical superscript gives the count. For example: • aqua[(ethane-1,2-diyldinitrilo-κ2
N,''
)tris(acetato-κO
)acetato]cobaltate(1-), the cobalt anion formed with water and pentadentate edta, which links via two nitrogen atoms and three oxygen atoms. There are two bonds from nitrogen atoms in edta which is specified by -κ2N
,. The three bonds from oxygen are specified by tris(acetato-κO''), where there is one ligation per acetate. In polynuclear complexes the use of the kappa symbol is extended in two related ways. Firstly to specify which ligating atoms bind to which central atom and secondly to specify for a bridging ligand which central atoms are involved. The central atoms must be identified, i.e. by assigning numbers to them. (This is formally dealt with in the recommendations). To specify which ligating atoms in a ligand link to which central atom, the central atom numbers precede the kappa symbol, and numerical superscript specifies the number of ligations and this is followed by the atomic symbol. Multiple occurrences are separated by commas. Examples: : di-μ-chlorido-tetrachlorido-1κ2Cl,2κ2Cl-dialuminium, (
aluminium trichloride). :: tetrachlorido-1κ2Cl,2κ2Cl specifies that there are two chloride ligands on each aluminium atom. :decacarbonyl-1κ3
C,2κ3
C,3κ4
C-di-μ-hydrido-1:2κ2
H;1:2κ2
H-
triangulo-(3
Os—
Os), (
Decacarbonyldihydridotriosmium). ::decacarbonyl-1κ3
C,2κ3
C,3κ4
C shows that there are three carbonyl groups on two osmium atoms and four on the third. ::di-μ-hydrido-1:2κ2
H;1:2κ2
H specifies that the two hydride bridge between the osmium atom 1 and osmium atom 2.
Eta, η, convention The use of η to denote hapticity is systematised. The use of η1 is not recommended. When the specification of the atoms involved is ambiguous the position of the atoms must be specified. This is illustrated by the examples: • Cr(η6-C6H6)2, named as bis(η6-benzene)chromium as all of the (contiguous) atoms in the benzene ligands are involved their position does not have to be specified • [(1,2,5,6-η)-cycloocta-1,3,5,7-tetraene](η5-cyclopentadienyl)cobalt in this only two (at positions 1 and 5) of the four double bonds are linked to the central atom. ==Coordination geometry==