Fluorurate

Fluorurate is a term that has appeared in various chemical discussions but does not denote a single, universally accepted substance. In contemporary inorganic chemistry, there is no officially recognized “fluorurate” anion or compound in standard nomenclature, and the term is often considered ambiguous or outdated.

In some older or non-English sources, fluorurate has been used as an informal label for fluorine-containing oxyanions or for uranyl-containing species that include fluoride ligands. Because the word combines fluorine with the -ate suffix, some authors intended it to mean a fluorine-oxygen species analogous to sulfate or phosphate, but such a fluorine-oxygen “fluorate” is not part of modern, routine chemistry.

More commonly, the distinction is made with related terms: fluoride indicates the simple F− ion; fluorine-oxide oxyanions might be referred to as fluorates or fluoridates in some contexts; and uranylate or uranyl-oxide–fluoride derivatives describe uranium-containing complexes. When encountered, fluorurate should be interpreted from context or by consulting the original source, as it may be a niche usage, a typographical error, or a regional convention.

See also: fluoride, fluorate, uranyl fluoride, uranate, uranyl complexes, fluorite.