9.24 - The Nomenclature of Coordination Compounds - A Necessary Evil and a Pleasant Journey

As with T.S. EliotâEurotms cats, the naming of coordination compounds is a difficult matter. There is an equilibrium to be reached between usability and precision. This article discusses the need for nomenclature and presents a brief history of chemical nomenclature. The role of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is identified and a short overview of the rules of inorganic nomenclature is given. The use of additive nomenclature for the construction of names of coordination compounds is described and methods for the description of the bonding of complicated ligands are introduced. The final section looks towards the future development of nomenclature schemes designed for machine rather than human readability.