Tuning dimensionality between 2D and 1D MOFs by lanthanide contraction and ligand-to-metal ratio

2D/1D dimensionality tuning in LnMOFs is related to both (i) ligand-to-metal ratio and (ii) lanthanide contraction, this is only possible with Er/Tm, lighter lanthanides e.g. Pr only produced 2D MOFs, despite different ligand-to-metal ratios were used.

Countercurrent Actinide Lanthanide Separation Process (ALSEP) Demonstration Test with a Simulated PUREX Raffinate in Centrifugal Contactors on the Laboratory Scale

An Actinide Lanthanide Separation Process (ALSEP) for the separation of trivalent actinides (An(III)) from simulated raffinate solution was successfully demonstrated using a 32-stage 1 cm annular centrifugal contactor setup. The ALSEP solvent was composed of a mixture of 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester (HEH[EHP]) and N,N,N′,N′-tetra-(2-ethylhexyl)-diglycolamide (T2EHDGA) in n-dodecane. Flowsheet calculations and evaluation of the results were done using the Argonne’s Model for Universal Solvent Extraction (AMUSE) code using single-stage distribution data. The co-extraction of Zr(IV) and Pd(II) was prevented using CDTA (trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid) as a masking agent in the feed. For the scrubbing of co-extracted Mo; citrate-buffered acetohydroxamic acid was used. The separation of An(III) from the trivalent lanthanides (Ln(III)) was achieved using citrate-buffered diethylene-triamine-N,N,N′,N″,N″-pentaacetic acid (DTPA), and Ln(III) were efficiently back extracted using N,N,N′,N′-tetraethyl-diglycolamide (TEDGA). A clean An(III) product was obtained with a recovery of 95% americium and curium. The Ln(III) were efficiently stripped; but the Ln(III) product contained 5% of the co-stripped An(III). The carryover of Am and Cm into the Ln(III) product is attributed to too few actinide stripping stages, which was constrained by the number of centrifugal contactors available. Improved separation would be achieved by increasing the number of An strip stages. The heavier lanthanides (Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd) and yttrium were mainly routed to the Ln product, whereas the lighter lanthanides (La and Ce) were mostly routed to the raffinate.

nanocrystals (0 ≤ x ≤ 1): growth, size control and shell formation on β-NaCeF4:Tb core particles

is an interesting shell material for β-NaREF4 particles of the lighter lanthanides (RE = Ce, Pr, Nd), as variation of its strontium content x allows to vary its lattice parameters and match those of the core material.

Polypyridines, Picrates, Lanthanides: A Plethora of Stacks?

Reactions of the lanthanide(iii) picrates (picrate=2,4,6-trinitrophenoxide=pic) with 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (terpy) in a 1:2 molar ratio have provided crystals suitable for X-ray structure determinations in instances predominantly involving the lighter lanthanides. In all, the aza-aromatic ligands chelate the lanthanide ion, none being found as ‘free’ ligands within the lattice. The complexes of 1,10-phenanthroline have been characterised in two forms, one unsolvated (Ln=La, Sm, Eu; monoclinic, C2/c, Z 8), one an acetonitrile monosolvate (Ln=Gd; monoclinic, P21/a, Z 4), the latter being the only previously known form (with Ln=La). In both forms, the LnIII is nine-coordinate, in an approximately tricapped trigonal-prismatic environment, with two picrate ligands chelating through phenoxide and 2-nitro group oxygen atoms, the third being bound through phenoxide-O only. The 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine complexes, all acetonitrile monosolvates defined for Ln=La, Gd, Er, and Y (monoclinic, C2/c, Z 4), are ionic, one picrate having been displaced from the primary coordination sphere. For Ln=La, the two bound picrates are again chelating, making the LaIII 10-coordinate in a distorted bicapped square-antiprismatic environment but in the other species they are bound through phenoxide-O only, making the LnIII ions eight-coordinate in a distorted square-antiprismatic environment. Stacked arrays of the ligands can be found in both series of complexes, with intramolecular picrate–picrate and picrate–aza-aromatic stacks being prominent features.

Structural Systematics of Lanthanide(III) Picrate Solvates: Hexamethylphosphoramide and Octamethylpyrophosphoramide Adducts

Crystalline products of the reactions of lanthanide picrates, Ln(pic)3 (pic=2,4,6-trinitrophenoxide), with hexamethylphosphoramide (hmpa) and octamethylpyrophosphoramide (ompa) have been characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. With hmpa and lighter lanthanides (La, Sm, Eu), isomorphous species (monoclinic, P21/c, Z 4) of stoichiometry [Ln(pic)3(hmpa)3]·0.5H2O, have been defined where the molecular units in the lattice contain 9-coordinate Ln with tricapped trigonal-prismatic coordination geometry. The picrate ligands are bidentate through phenoxide-O and 2-nitro-O, with the latter occupying the capping positions, while the hmpa ligands are singly O-bound to one trigonal face. Heavier lanthanides (Gd, Lu) and Y have been found to give isomorphous (monoclinic, P21/n, Z 4) species of stoichiometry [Ln(pic)3(hmpa)2], with 8-coordinate Ln of an irregular geometry best considered as close to that of a bicapped trigonal-prism. The picrate ligands chelate in the same manner as in the lighter Ln complexes but with one spanning a trigonal edge, and the hmpa-O donors occuping two apices of the other trigonal face. The ligand ompa has been found to act as a bidentate chelate in all isolated species, displacing one picrate from the metal ion coordination sphere to give ionic complexes. For La, Nd, and Gd, isomorphous (monoclinic, P21/n, Z 4) complexes of stoichiometry [Ln(pic)2(ompa)2(OH2)](pic)·0.5H2O containing 9-coordinate, tricapped trigonal-prismatic Ln with a single aqua ligand have been defined, while for Er, Yb, Lu, and Y, both the coordinated and lattice water molecules are lost in isomorphous (monoclininc, P21/c, Z 8) 8-coordinate, square-antiprismatic species of stoichiometry [Ln(pic)2(ompa)2](pic). For Er, further polymorphs, one monoclinic, P21/c, and the other triclinic, , have also been characterised.

X-Ray Structural Studies of Small-Bite Ligands on Large Cations – Lanthanide(III) Ions and Dimethylphosphate

Reactions of lanthanide chlorides or trifluoracetates (tfa) or picrates with trimethylphosphate alone in the first two cases or trimethylphosphate plus 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2′;6′,2′′-terpyridine in the third, result in the formation of crystalline products containing dimethylphosphate (dmp–). Single crystal X-ray structural characterisation of these materials has shown that the stoichiometrically simple Ln(dmp)3 species obtained with chloride reactants and the lighter lanthanides are polymeric and commonly dimorphic, while the stoichiometrically more variable mixed dmp/tfa complexes have structures closely related to one phase of the Ln(dmp)3 family, and the presence of picrate and aza-aromatic ligands enables the isolation of Y and Lu derivatives containing binuclear species. In all, the dmp– ligands adopt exclusively the κ1O;κ1O′ bridging mode, the overall results indicating that this should apply to the complete lanthanide series.

Synthesis, characterization and thermal behaviour of solid-state compounds of 4-methoxybenzoate with lanthanum (III) and trivalent lighter lanthanides

Solid-state M-4-MeO-Bz compounds, where M stands for trivalent La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm and 4-MeO-Bz is 4-methoxybenzoate, have been synthesized. Simultaneous thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffractometry, infrared spectroscopy and complexometry were used to characterize and to study the thermal behaviour of these compounds. The results led to information about the composition, dehydration, polymorphic transformation, ligand's denticity, thermal behaviour and thermal decomposition of the isolated compounds.