20 Examples of Acidic Oxides


The acid oxides, also called non-metallic oxides or anhydrides, arise from the combination of a non-metal with oxygen. Since the electronegativity difference between these elements is low, the bonds that form between them are covalent. For instance: arsenic oxide, carbon dioxide, tellurium oxide.

When reacting with water, these compounds form oxacid acids, but if they are in the presence of hydroxides, what is formed is a salt and water. Several of these compounds are gaseous substances.

Both the boiling point of these compounds and the melting point are usually low. Acidic oxides or anhydrides obey the generic formula X2ORn, where the X represents some non-metallic element.

Acidic oxides are widely used in industry for different purposes. For example, carbon dioxide is used in the production of carbonated beverages. Some acid oxides are also toxic, such as carbon monoxide, which has caused so many deaths associated with the use of incompletely combustion stoves in closed environments.

Also toxic are sulfur and nitrogen oxides, often causing the depletion of the ozone layer. Titanium oxide, for its part, has great importance as a pigment, it gives white color.

Nomenclature

As in what happens in other groups of inorganic compounds, three different modalities coexist in the designation of acid oxides:

  • The traditional nomenclature. They are called with the word “anhydride” followed by the name of the non-metallic element, to which the corresponding termination is added according to the oxidation state with which the non-metal intervenes in the molecule.
  • If the nonmetal has an oxidation state, is named: non-metal anhydride. For example: boron anhydride (B2OR3)
  • If the nonmetal has two oxidation states, is named: anhydride + name of the nonmetal ending in “bear” (when it has the lowest oxidation state) or anhydride + name of the nonmetal ending in “ico” (when it has the highest oxidation state). For example: carbonaceous anhydride (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
  • If the nonmetal has three oxidation states, is named: anhydride + name of the nonmetal with the prefix “hypo” + the suffix “bear” (when it has the lowest oxidation state), anhydride + name of the nonmetal with the suffix “bear” (when it has the state of intermediate oxidation) or anhydride + name of the nonmetal with the suffix “ico” (when it has the highest oxidation state). For example: hypo-sulfur anhydride (SO), sulfur anhydride (SO2) and sulfuric anhydride (SO3).
  • If the nonmetal has four oxidation states, is named: anhydride + name of the nonmetal with the prefix “hypo” and the suffix “bear” (when it has the lowest oxidation state), anhydride + name of the nonmetal with the suffix “bear” (when it has the state of intermediate oxidation), anhydride + name of the nonmetal with the suffix “ico” (when it has the intermediate oxidation state that follows) and anhydride + name of the nonmetal with the prefix “per” and the suffix “ico” (when it has the higher oxidation state). For example: hypoiodine anhydride (I2O), iodine anhydride (I2OR3), iodium anhydride (I2OR5) and periodic anhydride (I2OR7).
  • Stock nomenclature. They are designated by the word “oxide” followed by the name of the non-metallic element, and then the oxidation state in which the non-metal participates is indicated between parentheses and in Roman numerals. For example: selenium oxide (SeO), selenium (IV) oxide (SeO2) and selenium (VI) oxide (SeO3).
  • The systematic nomenclature. They are designated with the word “oxide” preceded by a Latin prefix that depends on the number of oxygen atoms, followed by the preposition “of” and then the name of the nonmetal, this in turn preceded by the Latin prefix that indicates the number of atoms of that nonmetal in the molecule. For the same nonmetal, different acid oxides can exist. For example: selenium monoxide (SeO), selenium dioxide (SeO2) and selenium trioxide (SeO3).

Examples of acid oxides

  1. Dichloroxide (Cl2OR)
  2. Arsenic (III) oxide (As2OR3)
  3. Hyposulfurous anhydride (SO)
  4. Phosphorous (III) oxide (P4OR6)
  5. Carbon dioxide (CO2)
  6. Chloric anhydride (Cl2OR5)
  7. Silicic anhydride (SiO2)
  8. Nitrogen (IV) oxide (NO2)
  9. Perchloric oxide (Cl2OR7)
  10. Manganese (VI) oxide (MnO3)
  1. Manganese (VII) oxide (Mn2OR7)
  2. Dinitrogen trioxide (N2OR3)
  3. Chlorous anhydride (Cl2OR3)
  4. Carbonaceous anhydride (CO)
  5. Boron anhydride (B2OR3)
  6. Bromous anhydride (Br2OR3)
  7. Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
  8. Tellurium (IV) oxide (TeO2)
  9. Selenium (VI) oxide (SeO3)
  10. Hypoiodine anhydride (I2OR)

Related posts:

  1. How are oxides named? (with examples)
  2. How are acids named? With examples!
  3. 20 Examples of Oxidation (with pictures)
  4. Examples of Materials and their Properties
  5. Examples of Hydracids (explained)