An -ate or -ite at the end of a compound name usually indicates that the compound contains what?

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An -ate or -ite at the end of a compound name usually indicates that the compound contains what?

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Answer 1 · 2017-01-02T10:23:09

An old chestnut; the $ite$ $"ite"$ ending usually designates the next LOWER oxidation state. It generally relates to ions that contain more than one oxygen atom.

Explanation:

Sodium sulfate versus sodium sulfite, $N a_{2} S O_{4}$ $Na_2SO_4$ versus $N a_{2} S O_{3}$ $Na_2SO_3$ . In the sulfate, sulfur expresses its maximum oxidation state, $S (+ V I)$ $S(+VI)$ ; in the sulfite, $N a_{2} S O_{3}$ $Na_2SO_3$ , we have $S (+ I V)$ $S(+IV)$ .

Take perchlorates, and chlorates: $C l O_{4}^{-}$ $ClO_4^-$ versus $C l O_{3}^{-}$ $ClO_3^-$ , i.e. $C l (+ V I I)$ $Cl(+VII)$ versus $C l (+ V)$ $Cl(+V)$ . And then there are chlorites and hypochlorites. This naming system is a bit old-fashioned, and tends not to be used anymore.

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An -ate or -ite at the end of a compound name usually indicates that the compound contains what?

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