Overview

Samarium(III) chloride (SmCl₃), also known as samarium trichloride, is a compound of samarium and chlorine. It is a pale yellow solid which rapidly absorbs water on exposure to moist air to form a hexahydrate, SmCl₃.6H₂O. Simple rapid heating of the hydrate alone may cause small amounts of hydrolysis^[1]. The first five moles of water are lost at 110 °C^[2]. General Name, Symbol, Number Samarium, Sm, 62 Chemical series Lanthanides Group, Period, Block _ , 6 , f Density, Hardness 7353 kg/m3, no data Appearance silvery white Atomic properties Atomic weight 150. ... General Name, Symbol, Number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Atomic mass 35. ... Hydrates are compounds formed by the union of water with some other substance, generally forming a neutral body, as certain crystallized salts. ... Hydrates are compounds formed by the union of water with some other substance, generally forming a neutral body, as certain crystallized salts. ... Hydrolysis is a chemical process in which a molecule is cleaved into two parts by the addition of a molecule of water. ...

Chemical properties

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 insoluble samarium(III) compounds, for example samarium(III) hydroxide or samarium(III) fluoride: In chemistry, a Lewis acid can accept a pair of electrons and form a coordinate covalent bond, after the American chemist Gilbert Lewis. ... The HSAB concept, also known as HSAB theory, is widely used in chemistry for explaining stability of compounds, reaction paths etc. ...

SmCl₃(aq) + 3 NaOH(aq) → Sm(OH)₃(s) + 3 NaCl(aq)

SmCl_3(aq) + 3 KF(aq) → SmF₃(s) + 3 KCl(aq)

Preparation

Samarium(III) chloride can be prepared as a yellow aqueous solution by reaction of either samarium metal or samarium(III) carbonate and hydrochloric acid. The anhydrous halide may alternatively be prepared from samarium metal and hydrogen chloride^[6]. General Name, Symbol, Number Samarium, Sm, 62 Chemical series Lanthanides Group, Period, Block _ , 6 , f Density, Hardness 7353 kg/m3, no data Appearance silvery white Atomic properties Atomic weight 150. ... The chemical substance hydrochloric acid is the aqueous (water-based) solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas. ... Liquids and solids (powders) are anhydrous if they are without water, i. ... A halide is a binary compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative than the halogen, to make a fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, or astatide compound. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Samarium, Sm, 62 Chemical series Lanthanides Group, Period, Block _ , 6 , f Density, Hardness 7353 kg/m3, no data Appearance silvery white Atomic properties Atomic weight 150. ... Hydrogen chloride, also known under the name HCl, is a highly corrosive and toxic colorless gas that forms white fumes on contact with humidity. ...

2 Sm(s) + 6 HCl(aq) → 2 SmCl₃(aq) + 3 H₂(g)

Sm₂(CO₃)₃(s) + 6 HCl(aq) → 2 SmCl₃(aq) + 3 CO₂(g) + 3 H₂O(l)

Anhydrous SmCl₃ can be made by dehydration of the hydrate either by slowly heating to 400 °C with 4-6 equivalents of ammonium chloride under high vacuum^[1],[4], or by heating with an excess of thionyl chloride for five hours^[1],[5]. The anhydrous halide may alternatively be prepared from samarium metal and hydrogen chloride^[6]. It is usually purified by high temperature sublimation under high vacuum.^[1] Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ... Water (from the Old English word wæter; c. ... Liquids and solids (powders) are anhydrous if they are without water, i. ... Ammonium chloride or Sal Ammoniac (chemically ammonium chloride (NH4Cl); also zalmiak, sal armagnac, sal armoniac, and salt armoniack) is, in its pure form, a clear white water-soluble crystalline salt with a biting taste. ... Thionyl chloride (or thionyl dichloride) is an inorganic compound with the formula SOCl2. ... Liquids and solids (powders) are anhydrous if they are without water, i. ... A halide is a binary compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative than the halogen, to make a fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, or astatide compound. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Samarium, Sm, 62 Chemical series Lanthanides Group, Period, Block _ , 6 , f Density, Hardness 7353 kg/m3, no data Appearance silvery white Atomic properties Atomic weight 150. ... Hydrogen chloride, also known under the name HCl, is a highly corrosive and toxic colorless gas that forms white fumes on contact with humidity. ...

Uses

Samarium(III) chloride is used for the preparation of samarium metal (which has a variety of uses, notably in magnets). Anhydrous SmCl₃ is mixed with sodium chloride or calcium chloride to lower the melting point, then it is melted and electrolysed to give the free metal^[3]. The anhydrous chloride may also be used to prepare organometallic compounds of samarium, such as bis(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)alkylsamarium(III) complexes used as catalysts for hydrogenation and hydrosilylation of alkenes^[7]. Samarium(III) chloride can also be used as a starting point for the preparation of other samarium salts. General Name, Symbol, Number Samarium, Sm, 62 Chemical series Lanthanides Group, Period, Block _ , 6 , f Density, Hardness 7353 kg/m3, no data Appearance silvery white Atomic properties Atomic weight 150. ... Magnetic lines of force of a bar magnet shown by iron filings on paper A magnet is an object that has a magnetic field. ... Flash point  ? °C R/S statement R: ? S: ? RTECS number  ? Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ... Calcium chloride is a chemical compound of calcium and chlorine. ... The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. ... In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of separating bonded elements and compounds by passing an electric current through them. ... Hot metal work from a blacksmith In chemistry, a metal (Greek: Metallon) is an element that readily forms ions (cations) and has metallic bonds, and metals are sometimes described as a lattice of positive ions (cations) in a cloud of electrons. ... The chloride ion is formed when the element chlorine picks up one electron to form the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. The salts of hydrochloric acid HCl contain chloride ions and are also called chlorides. ... Organometallic have classically been compounds having bonds between one or more metal atoms and one or more carbon atoms of an organyl group. ... Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction in which unsaturated bonds between carbon atoms are reduced by attachment of a hydrogen atom to each carbon. ... An alkene in organic chemistry is an unsaturated hydrocarbon containing at least one carbon to carbon double bond. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Samarium, Sm, 62 Chemical series Lanthanides Group, Period, Block _ , 6 , f Density, Hardness 7353 kg/m3, no data Appearance silvery white Atomic properties Atomic weight 150. ... In chemistry, salt is a term used for ionic compounds composed of positively charged cations and negatively charged anions, so that the product is neutral and without a net charge. ...

Precautions

Samarium compounds are of low to moderate toxicity, although their toxicity has not been investigated in detail. General Name, Symbol, Number Samarium, Sm, 62 Chemical series Lanthanides Group, Period, Block _ , 6 , f Density, Hardness 7353 kg/m3, no data Appearance silvery white Atomic properties Atomic weight 150. ... Toxicity (from Greek τοξικότητα - poisonousness) is a measure to the degree to which something is toxic or poisonous. ...

Suppliers/Manufacturers

• GFS: http://www.gfschemicals.com/productcatalog/Rare_Earth_Compounds_PT.asp
• Aldrich: http://www.sigmaaldrich.com
• Strem: http://www.strem.com/code/index.ghc
• Alfa: http://www.alfa.com/alf/index.htm

In the US, several of these suppliers also distribute through

• VWR: http://www.vwr.com/index.htm or
• Fisher: https://www1.fishersci.com/index.jsp

References

1. F. T. Edelmann, P. Poremba, in: Synthetic Methods of Organometallic and Inorganic Chemistry, (W. A. Herrmann, ed.), Vol. 6, Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, 1997.
2. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (58th edition), CRC Press, West Palm Beach, Florida, 1977.
3. N. N. Greenwood, A. Earnshaw, Chemistry of the Elements, Pergamon Press, 1984.
4. M. D. Taylor, P. C. Carter, J. Inorg. Nucl. Chem. 24, 387 (1962); J. Kutscher, A. Schneider, Inorg. Nucl. Chem. Lett. 7, 815 (1971).
5. J. H. Freeman, M. L. Smith, J. Inorg. Nucl. Chem. 7, 224 (1958).
6. L. F. Druding, J. D. Corbett, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 83, 2462 (1961); J. D. Corbett, Rev. Chim. Minerale 10, 239 (1973).
7. G. A. Molander, E. D. Dowdy, in Lanthanides: Chemistry and Use in Organic Synthesis, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1999, p119-154.