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:
Properties of water
The simplest systematic name of water is "hydrogen oxide". This is analogous to related compounds such as hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen sulfide, and deuterium oxide (heavy water). Using chemical nomenclature for type I ionic binary compounds, water would take the name "hydrogen monoxide" , but this is not among the names published by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). Another name is "dihydrogen monoxide", which is a rarely used name of water, and mostly used in the dihydrogen monoxide hoax.