Oxyanion

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An oxyanion or oxoanion is a negatively charged polyatomic ion that contains oxygen. Every oxyanion is the conjugate base of an oxyacid.

Some elements (both metals and nonmetals) form several oxyanions with different numbers of oxygen atoms or different charges. These oxyanions and their conjugate oxyacids are named according to the oxidation state of the non-oxygen atom, for example the four oxyanions of chlorine:

Anion Formula Conjugate acid Oxidation state
Hypochlorite ClO Hypochlorous acid +1
Chlorite ClO2 Chlorous acid +3
Chlorate ClO3 Chloric acid +5
Perchlorate ClO4 Perchloric acid +7

In general, the oxidation states may be different from these, but the order of the prefixes and suffixes remains the same.