In order to examine the possibility of using yttrium(III) in the crystal engineering of hydrogenbonded coordination complexes and to compare the molecular and supramolecular YIII/Cl3 or NO3-/DMU chemistry with the already well-developed LnIII/Cl− or NO3−/DMU chemistry (LnIII = lanthanide, DMU = N,N’-dimethylurea), compounds [Y(DMU)6][YCl6] (1) and [Y(NO3)3(DMU)3] (2) have been prepared. The structures of both compounds have been determined by single-crystal Xray diffraction. The structure of 1 consists of octahedral [Y(DMU)6]3+ and [YCl6]3− ions. The YIII ion in 2 is nine-coordinate and ligation is provided by three O-bonded DMU ligands and three bidentate chelating nitrato groups; the coordination polyhedron about the metal can be viewed as a distorted, monocapped square antiprism. The [Y(DMU)6]3+ cations and [YCl6]3− anions self-assemble to form a hydrogen-bonded 3D architecture in 1. Most of the hydrogen-bonding functionalities on the components of 2 create also a 3D network. Two motifs of interionic/intramolecular hydrogen-bonds have been observed: N-H···Cl in 1 and N-H···O(NO3−) in 2. The IR data are discussed in terms of the nature of bonding and the structures of the two complexes
