Samarium(III) chloride, also known as samarium trichloride, is an inorganic compoundofsamarium and chloride. It is a pale yellow salt that rapidly absorbs water to form a hexahydrate, SmCl3.6H2O.[1] The compound has few practical applications but is used in laboratories for research on new compounds of samarium.
Like several related chlorides of the lanthanides and actinides, SmCl3 crystallises in the UCl3 motif. The Sm3+ centres are nine-coordinate, occupying trigonal prismatic sites with additional chloride ligands occupying the three square faces.
SmCl3 is prepared by the "ammonium chloride" route, which involves the initial synthesis of (NH4)2[SmCl5]. This material can be prepared from the common starting materials at reaction temperatures of 230 °C from samarium oxide:[2]
Aqueous solutions of samarium(III) chloride can be prepared by dissolving metallic samarium or samarium carbonate in hydrochloric acid.
Samarium(III) chloride is a moderately strong Lewis acid, which ranks as "hard" according to the HSAB concept. Aqueous solutions of samarium chloride can be used to prepare samarium trifluoride:
Samarium(III) chloride can also be used as a starting point for the preparation of other samariumsalts. The anhydrous chloride is used to prepare organometallic compounds of samarium, such as bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)alkylsamarium(III) complexes.[6]
^F. T. Edelmann, P. Poremba (1997). W. A. Herrmann (ed.). Synthetic Methods of Organometallic and Inorganic Chemistry. Vol. 6. Stuttgart: Georg Thieme Verlag.
^Meyer, G. (1989). "The Ammonium Chloride Route to Anhydrous Rare Earth Chlorides—The Example of Ycl 3". The Ammonium Chloride Route to Anhydrous Rare Earth Chlorides-The Example of YCl3. Inorganic Syntheses. Vol. 25. pp. 146–150. doi:10.1002/9780470132562.ch35. ISBN978-0-470-13256-2.
^L. F. Druding, J. D. Corbett (1961). "Lower Oxidation States of the Lanthanides. Neodymium(II) Chloride and Iodide". J. Am. Chem. Soc.83 (11): 2462–2467. doi:10.1021/ja01472a010.
^J. D. Corbett (1973). "Reduced Halides of the Rare Earth Elements". Rev. Chim. Minérale. 10: 239.
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