Olation
At low pH, many metal ions exist in aqueous solution as aqua coordination complexes, often with the formula [M(HO)]. As the pH increases, one O-H bond ionizes to give the hydroxide complex, the conjugate base of the parent hexaaqua complex:
The hydroxo complex is poised to undergo olation, which is initiated by displacement of one water by a neighboring complex:
In this product, the hydroxide ligand bridges between the two metals, this bridge is denoted with the symbol μ.
In the resulting 5+ ion, the remaining water and hydroxo ligands are highly acidic and the ionization and condensation processes can continue at still higher pHs. The formation of the oxo-dimer is a process called "oxolation," although sometimes olation and oxolation are not distinguished:
Ultimately one observes the formation of the metal oxide:
Hydron (chemistry)
In chemistry, a hydron is the general name for a cationic form of atomic hydrogen, represented with the symbol . However, this term is avoided and instead "proton" is used, which strictly speaking refers to the cation of protium, the most common isotope of hydrogen. The term "hydron" includes cations of hydrogen regardless of their isotopic composition: thus it refers collectively to protons (H) for the protium isotope, deuterons (H or D) for the deuterium isotope, and tritons (H or T) for the tritium isotope. Unlike most other ions, the hydron consists only of a bare atomic nucleus.