Polyatomic ion

A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a charged chemical species (ion) composed of two or more atoms covalently bonded or of a metal complex that can be considered to be acting as a single unit. The prefix poly- means 'many,' in Greek, but even ions of two atoms are commonly referred to as polyatomic. In older literature, a polyatomic ion is also referred to as a radical, and less commonly, as a radical group. In contemporary usage, the term radical refers to free radicals that are (not necessarily charged) species with an unpaired electron. A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a charged chemical species (ion) composed of two or more atoms covalently bonded or of a metal complex that can be considered to be acting as a single unit. The prefix poly- means 'many,' in Greek, but even ions of two atoms are commonly referred to as polyatomic. In older literature, a polyatomic ion is also referred to as a radical, and less commonly, as a radical group. In contemporary usage, the term radical refers to free radicals that are (not necessarily charged) species with an unpaired electron. An example of a polyatomic ion is the hydroxide ion; consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, hydroxide has a charge of −1. Its chemical formula is OH−. An ammonium ion is made up of one nitrogen atom and four hydrogen atoms: it has a charge of +1, and its chemical formula is NH+4. Polyatomic ions are often useful in the context of acid-base chemistry or in the formation of salts. A polyatomic ion can often be considered as the conjugate acid/base of a neutral molecule. For example, the conjugate base of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is the polyatomic hydrogen sulfate anion (HSO−4). The removal of another hydrogen ion yields the sulfate anion (SO2−4). There are two 'rules' that can be used for learning the nomenclature of polyatomic anions. First, when the prefix bi is added to a name, a hydrogen is added to the ion's formula and its charge is increased by 1, the latter being a consequence of the hydrogen ion's +1 charge. An alternative to the bi- prefix is to use the word hydrogen in its place: the anion derived from H+ + CO2−3, HCO−3, can be called either bicarbonate or hydrogen carbonate. Note that many of the common polyatomic anions are conjugate bases of acids derived from the oxides of non-metallic elements. For example, the sulfate anion, SO42−, is derived from H2SO4, which can be regarded as SO3 + H2O. The second rule looks at the number of oxygens in an ion. Consider the chlorine oxoanion family: First, think of the -ate ion as being the 'base' name, in which case the addition of a per- prefix adds an oxygen. Changing the -ate suffix to -ite will reduce the oxygens by one, and keeping the suffix -ite and adding the prefix hypo- reduces the number of oxygens by one more. In all situations, the charge is not affected. The naming pattern follows within many different oxyanion series based on a standard root for that particular series. The -ite has one less oxygen than the -ate, but different -ate anions might have different numbers of oxygen atoms.