Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
A vibrational spectroscopic study of hydrated Fe(3+) hydroxyl-sulfates; polymorphic minerals butlerite and
Jiří Cejka1, Jiří Sejkora, Jakub Plášil
1Chemistry Discipline, Faculty of Science and Technology, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane Queensland 4001, Australia.
Abstract:
Raman and infrared spectra of two polymorphous minerals with the chemical formula Fe3+(SO4)(OH)·2H2O, monoclinic butlerite and orthorhombic parabutlerite, are studied and the spectra assigned. Observed bands are attributed to the (SO4)2- stretching and bending vibrations, hydrogen bonded water molecules, stretching and bending vibrations of hydroxyl ions, water librational modes, Fe-O and Fe-OH stretching vibrations, Fe-OH bending vibrations and lattice vibrations. The O-H⋯O hydrogen bond lengths in the structures of both minerals are calculated from the wavenumbers of the stretching vibrations. One symmetrically distinct (SO4)2- unit in the structure of butlerite and two symmetrically distinct (SO4)2- units in the structure of parabutlerite are inferred from the Raman and infrared spectra. This conclusion agrees with the published crystal structures of both mineral phases.
Related Concept Videos
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Woodward–Fieser Rules
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.

