Naming Covalent/Molecular Compounds

Naming Covalent Compounds Covalent compounds have a different naming system since there are no ions involved to balance the charges. Remember: Covalent bonds are formed between non-metals. Therefore, covalent compounds are only made up of non-metals. Covalent compounds are formed when electrons are shared.

There can be many different compounds made up from the same two elements. E.g. CO2 (carbon dioxide) O C O Or CO (carbon monoxide) C O

Covalent Compounds are Named Using Prefixes 1 - mono 7 - hepta 2 - di 8 - octa 3 - tri 9 - nona 4 - tetra 10 - deca 5 - penta 6 - hexa

Simply use the correct prefix to tell how many of each atom are in the compound. You may leave out the prefix mono only if it appears in front of the entire name. Don’t forget to change the ending to “ide”. 1) PCl3 Phosphorus trichloride

2) N2O4 3) H20 4) CF4 5) SiO4 Dinitrogen tetraoxide Dihydrogen monoxide 4) CF4 Carbon tetrafluoride 5) SiO4 Silicon tetroxide

2) nitrogen trichloride 3) Carbon monoxide 4) tetrabromine nonoxide Use the prefixes to tell you how many of each atom. Then place this number as the subscript. 1) disulfur oxide S2O 2) nitrogen trichloride NCl3 3) Carbon monoxide CO 4) tetrabromine nonoxide Br4O9 5) arsenic trihydride AsH3