About Tellurates

Tellurate Ion

Tellurates are commonly considered to be compounds containing a tellurium oxyanion in which tellurium carries the oxidation number of +6. Compounds containing either the metatellurate ion, TeO42-, or the orthotellurate ion, TeO66-, would fall under this definition . However, current IUPAC naming conventions dictate that compounds containing what was conventionally known as the tellurite ion, TeO32-, be named as tellurate (IV) compounds, while other tellurates are labeled tellurate (VI) compounds. Furthering confusion, a number of other tellurate oxyanions exist, including pentoxotellurate, TeO54-, and ditellurate, Te2O108-. Additionally, a number compounds that do not even include tellurium oxyanions still have "tellurate" in their names, as in the case of octafluoridotellurate, TeF82-.

Metatellurates are analogous to the sulfate and selenite ions, and share similar chemistry.