The Basic Rules in Nomenclature of Inorganic Compounds

Chemical nomenclature and formulas are the basic communication tools in chemistry. Slovak nomenclature of inorganic compounds went through a relatively large and complex evolution when comparing with nomenclature systems in western languages. There is a constant production of internal nomenclature guides at Slovak faculties and universities aimed at teaching chemistry, either as a part of fundamental curriculum or in an advanced form. When comparing these guidelines, surprising differences and wrong recommendations appear. At the present time, the most comprehensive and regularly updated guide for nomenclature in inorganic chemistry is the series "Nazvoslovie anorganickych latok" (Nomenclature of Inorganic Compounds, M. Galamos et al.), the fourth edition of which is to be published this year by the Publishing House of Comenius University. It contains thorough nomenclature rules with many examples and exercises. In the Slovak milieu, however, there is still a lack of nomenclature guides recommended by the authorities, such as Slovak Chemical Society and Slovak National Committee of IUPAC. Because of the necessity of a uniform nomenclature guide, we introduce this work, compiled according to the above-mentioned books and IUPAC recommendations: Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry 2005 and Brief Guide to the Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry. Due to the specificities of the Slovak language, however, it is not possible to introduce all of the IUPAC recommendations. Therefore, we present only those that are already generally accepted.