Binary lanthanide(III)/nitrate and ternary lanthanide(III)/nitrate/chloride complexes in an ionic liquid containing...

The formation of binary Ln(iii)/nitrate and ternary Ln(iii)/nitrate/chloride complexes in a water-saturated ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (denoted BumimTf(2)N), was investigated by absorption spectrophotometry and luminescence spectroscopy. Four successive binary complexes, Nd(NO(3))(2+), Nd(NO(3))(2)(+), Nd(NO(3))(3), and Nd(NO(3))(4)(-), were identified, and their stability constants in water-saturated BumimTf(2)N are several orders of magnitude higher than those in aqueous solutions, but much lower than those observed in dry BumimTf(2)N. The complexation of lanthanides with nitrate in wet BumimTf(2)N proceeds via the replacement of water molecules by bidentate nitrate anions from the inner solvation spheres of Ln(3+) cations. In the absence of nitrate, the precipitation of Ln(iii)/chloride complex(es) occurs at low ratios of C(Cl)/C(Ln) (<6) in BumimTf(2)N, which precludes the determination of stability constants of binary Ln(iii)/chloride complexes by spectrophotometry or luminescence spectroscopy. However, using a competition approach, the formation of two ternary complexes, Ln(NO(3))(3)Cl(2)(2-) and Ln(NO(3))(2)Cl(4)(3-), has been observed and their stability constants in wet BumimTf(2)N were determined. Data indicate that both nitrate and chloride are stronger ligands than water for lanthanides in BumimTf(2)N.