Meta- (chemistry)



In chemistry, meta is a prefix, used for systematic names in IUPAC nomenclature. It has several meanings.


 * In organic chemistry, meta indicates the positions of substituents in aromatic cyclic compounds. The substituents have the 1,3-positions, for example in resorcinol.
 * Meta may also denote the dehydrated form of an acid, salt or organic derivative in a series. For example:
 * metabisulfite:
 * 2 bisulfite (HSO3-) -> 1 metabisulfite (S2O5(2-)) + H2O
 * metaphosphoric acid:
 * 3 orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4) -> 1 trimetaphosphoric acid (H3P3O9) + 3 H2O
 * Meta-antimonic acid, the dehydrated form of antimonic acid (H3SbO4), is HSbO3.