Solvation of praseodymium and cerium chlorides in anhydrous methanol and iso-propanol from ultrasonic velocity measurements

Abstract

Ultrasonic velocities and densities were measured, and the isentropic compressibility coefficients and solvation numbers for CeCl₃ and PrCl₃ (anhydrous and hydrated) solutions in methanol and iso-propanol at 25°C were calculated. The results were interpreted in terms of inner-sphere coordination of chloride anions by lanthanide cations, as well as changing dissociation degree of the solutes with concentration. The steric effect of the solvent molecules on modelling the structure and coordination number of metal ions was considered and compared with the X-ray diffraction of solid solvates. The above studies were correlated with our earlier optical investigation and confirmed by conductivity measurements. For comparison, the same methods were also applied to cesium, calcium and tetraethylammonium chlorides.