According to IUPAC nomenclature, sodium nitroprusside is named as:
Sodium nitro ferricyanide
Sodium nitro ferrocyanide
Sodium pentacyanidonitrosyl ferrate(II)
Sodium pentacyanonitrosyl ferrate(III)
The chemical formula of sodium nitroprusside is . In this complex, the NO ligand is present as the nitrosonium ion (), and is the cyanide ion (). Let the oxidation state of Fe be . Charge on the coordination sphere is . So, . Therefore, the central iron atom is in the oxidation state. According to IUPAC nomenclature rules, ligands are named in alphabetical order: five cyanido ligands ('pentacyanido') and one nitrosyl ligand ('nitrosyl'). The anionic complex ends with the suffix '-ate', making the central metal 'ferrate(II)'. Thus, the complete IUPAC name is Sodium pentacyanidonitrosyl ferrate(II).
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