i would just like to know how to find or generate names from the chemical formula alone without needing the structure if that is at all possible
i would just like to know how to find or generate names from the chemical formula alone without needing the structure if that is at all possible
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The structure is just as important as the molecular formula in defining a chemical. So you cannot “generate the full name from the chemical formula alone”. You may be able to do a search on the formula, and find some materials that correspond to that formula. But with the exception of a few, very short formulas that only have one possible structure (like CH₄ is methane), you cannot generate the full name from a long chemical formula alone. For example, both ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and dimethyl ether have the same formula, C₂H₆O. But you can drink limited quantities of ethanol, while dimethyl ether is a colorless gas.
And note, just because you can write down a chemical composition, doesn’t mean a material is a specific chemical. It could be an alloy, or a mixture of chemicals, or a metallic composite with grains each having a different composition that adds up to the whole. So a chemical composition doesn’t necessarily specify any particular chemical.
So far as generating a chemical name, though, the rules (established by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) for naming compounds are systematic, and include the structural information as well as composition. So a chemist can look at the full IUPAC name, and immediately draw out the complete structure of the chemical. Naming organic compounds, for instance, starts with identifying the longest straight carbon chain, and then specifying what is attached and where along the chain, including rings and branches, etc. Here is a good description of how it works. You can see the structure is as much part of the name as the molecular formula.
Perhaps an inorganic chemist would care to summarize how to go about naming inorganic compounds, but IUPAC has a brief guide here, and you can get an idea of what’s involved.
TLDR: You can’t generate a full name, just from the chemical formula alone, without the structural information. And if your example is actually a mixture of things, rather than a single chemical, it won’t have a specific chemical name.
You said that a chemist can look at the IUPAC name and immediately draw the complete molecule and I was like, I have a PhD in chemistry and that is not necessarily a skill I possess haha. I think nomenclature is a skill and is certainly more practiced in organic chemistry.
In inorganic chemistry you would tend to start by identifying the central metal ion. The compound listed in the title looks like a VERY complicated salt to me, so you would start with the cationic bit and then work on the anionic bit.
The cation looks like a mix of silver and copper particles where some contain seaborgium and some contain a complex silicon ligand with small iron sulfur clusters and anionic aluminate groups, which is further charge balanced by mercury and tungsten.
To me that looks like the cation of the of the salt, and the anion is a lead cluster ligated by a complex anionic carbon ligand which is further charge balanced by an iron silicone oxide and a silver tin uranium group.
All this to say the second part of the salt would probably be named in terms of the lead followed by a description of the carbon ligand and then the charge balancing functional groups after. The first part of the salt would probably name the two types of particles containing silver and copper with one containing seaborgium and the other containing the silicone ligand.
To be honest though the lab working on this material would probably just call it something like Fred and that would be it.
Here are some reasons you can’t do that: