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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Chemical Vapor Deposition of an Organic Magnet, Vanadium Tetracyanoethylene
Published on: July 3, 2015
Vanadium(V) complexes of alpha-hydroxycarboxylic acids in aqueous solution
S Hati1, R J Batchelor, F W Einstein
1Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby B.C., V5A 1S6, Canada.
Abstract:
51V NMR and IR spectroscopic studies of the complexes formed between vanadate and the alpha-hydroxylic acid ligands, (S)-2-hydroxypropanoic acid (L-(+)-lactic acid), 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropanoic acid, and 2-ethyl-2-hydroxybutanoic acid were carried out for aqueous 1 M ionic strength (NaCl) solutions. Three major products in V to L stoichiometries of 1:1, 2:2, and 3:2 were identified from vanadate and ligand concentration studies, while a pH variation study allowed charge states to be determined. At pH 7.06, the formation constants for the predominant reactions were (26 +/- 1) M (-1), (V + L <= => VL); (6.8 +/- 0.4) x 10(3) M(-1), (2VL <= => V(2)L(2)); and (3.5 +/- 0.3) x 10(3) M(-1), (V(2)L(2) + V <= => V(3)L(2)). Dissolution studies of various crystalline products were carried out for aqueous, nonaqueous, and mixed solvent systems. These studies combined with information available from X-ray structural studies provided a basis for the assignment of solution state structures. Pentacoordinate vanadium in a trigonal-bipyramidal geometry was proposed for the both the 1:1 and 2:2 complexes when in aqueous solution. Observed changes in (51)V chemical shift patterns were consistent with a cis fusion in octahedral coordination for the central vanadium of the 3:2 complex, while the remaining vanadiums retained a pentacoordinate geometry.
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