Oxidation State

[taiyeojeikere-3C]

When naming a coordination compound, how do we calculate the oxidation state for the compound when naming it?

[Nicholas Le 4H]

You calculate the oxidation state of the transition metal by first finding the overall charge of the ligands attached to it. After you have found that, you will want to look at the overall charge of the whole compound. You should then be able to find the oxidation state of the transition metal as its charge should add with the ligands overall charge to equal to the overall charge of the compound.

[Charles Gu 1D]

You have the to know the oxidation numbers of most of the molecule and match the total charge of the molecule in the end.

[Ashley Kim]

Some of these oxidation states are simply the charge of the molecule, e.g. O2- will have an oxidation state of -2.

An easier way to think about oxidation states is that they are if covalent bonds were split like ionic bonds - merely an intellectual model to determine which atoms are more charged than others.

[sallina_yehdego 2E]

You first find the oxidative number of the compound (given) and are usually given another oxidative number of one of the atoms or you must know (e.g. (NH3) is 0). From there, you find the difference between the oxidative states to find the oxidative number of the missing one(s).