Ternary Ionic Compounds

    Simple ternary ionic compounds usually contain only a kind of metal cation and a kind of oxyanion.

        M_xX_mO_n

The format for the name of this kind of compound is two words:

    First word:  the complete name of the less electronegative element.

    and followed by a

    Second word:  consisting of the stem of the more electronegative element with an -ate or an -ite suffix.  Either the prefix per- or the prefix hypo- may also be used to help indicate the ON of the nonmetal X.  Greek prefixes are not used with ionic compounds.

    When more than one compound is possible for the two ions, either the oxidation state of the less electronegative element is indicated with a Roman numeral or, if possible, the stem of that element's name (frequently based on the Latin or Greek) is used with an -ous or -ic suffix.  

    Upon learning a list of ions, it is frequently easier to name an ionic compound by simply listing the ion names in the order given in the formula.

    This Power Point Show has more examples of Ternary Ionic compound and other more complex salts.