Hydroxide
Hydroxide is a diatomic anion with chemical formula OH. It consists of an oxygen and hydrogen atom held together by a covalent bond, and carries a negative electric charge. It is an important but usually minor constituent of water. It functions as a base, a ligand, a nucleophile, and a catalyst. The hydroxide ion forms salts, some of which dissociate in aqueous solution, liberating solvated hydroxide ions. Sodium hydroxide is a multi-million-ton per annum commodity chemical. A hydroxide attached to a strongly electropositive center may itself ionize, liberating a hydrogen cation (H), making the parent compound an acid.
Aluminium hydroxide
Gibbsite is also known as hydrargillite, named after the Greek words for water (') and clay ('). The first compound named "hydrargillite" was thought to be aluminium hydroxide, but was later found to be aluminium phosphate; despite this, both "gibbsite" and "hydrargillite" are used to refer to the same polymorphism of aluminium hydroxide, with "gibbsite" used most commonly in the United States and "hydrargillite" used more often in Europe. In 1930, it was referred to as "α-alumina trihydrate" to contrast it with bayerite, which was called "β-alumina trihydrate" (the alpha and beta designations were used to differentiate the more- and less-common forms respectively). In 1957, a symposium on alumina nomenclature attempted to develop a universal standard, resulting in gibbsite being designated γ-Al(OH), bayerite becoming α-Al(OH), and nordstrandite being designated Al(OH). Based on their crystallographic properties, a suggested nomenclature and designation is for gibbsite to be α-Al(OH), bayerite to be designated β-Al(OH), and both nordstrandite and doyleite are designated Al(OH). Under this designation, the α and β prefixes refer to hexagonal, close-packed structures and altered or dehydrated polymorphisms respectively, with no differentiation between nordstrandite and doyleite.