Europium(III) chloride

Europium(III) chloride is a compound of europium and chlorine with the formula EuCl₃.

Properties

Europium trichloride is a yellow solid which begins to decompose at or below its melting point to give at least some EuCl₂. Being hygroscopic it rapidly absorbs water on exposure to moist air to form a white crystalline hexahydrate, EuCl₃.6H₂O (M_r = 366.41 g/mol; CAS number [13759-92-7]). Simple rapid heating of the hydrate alone may cause small amounts of hydrolysis. Anhydrous EuCl₃ can be made from the hydrate by heating with an excess of thionyl chloride for around 15 hours.

Europium(III) chloride is soluble in water. When anhydrous, it is expected to be also highly soluble in ethanol (by analogy with SmCl₃). It is nine-coordinate (trigonal prismatic), and it crystallises with the UCl₃ structure.

Uses

Europium(III) chloride can be used for the preparation of europium(II) chloride by reduction in a gold boat using hydrogen gas while heating slowly to 700 °C. The anhydrous chloride may also be used to prepare organometallic compounds of europium, such as bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)europium(II) complexes. Europium(III) chloride can be used as a starting point for the preparation of other europium salts.

Bibliography

• Edelmann, F. T.; & Poremba, P. (1997). in: Synthetic Methods of Organometallic and Inorganic Chemistry (Herrmann, E. A., Ed.) Vol. 6. Stuttgart:Georg Thieme.

References