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Erbium(III) chloride
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<h2 id="preparation">Preparation</h2> <p>Anhydrous erbium(III) chloride can be produced by the <a href="/facts/Ammonium_chloride_route/uK38fyXa">ammonium chloride route</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> In the first step, <a href="/facts/Erbium(III)_oxide/KsETktYt">erbium(III) oxide</a> is heated with <a href="/facts/Ammonium_chloride/SfXdntlv">ammonium chloride</a> to produce the ammonium salt of the pentachloride: </p> Er2O3 + 10 [NH4]Cl → 2 [NH4]2ErCl5 + 6 H2O + 6 NH3 <p>In the second step, the ammonium chloride salt is converted to the trichloride by heating in a vacuum at 350-400 °C: </p> [NH4]2ErCl5 → ErCl3 + 2 HCl + 2 NH3 <h2 id="structural-data">Structural data</h2> <p>Erbium(III) chloride forms crystals of the <a href="/facts/Aluminium_chloride/xrhvSxDr">AlCl3</a> type, with <a href="/facts/Monoclinic/5PCwXvzX">monoclinic</a> crystals and the <a href="/facts/Point_group/41NSqUN6">point group</a> <i>C</i>2/m.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>Erbium(III) chloride hexahydrate also forms monoclinic crystals with the point group of <i>P</i>2/<i>n</i> (<i>P</i>2/<i>c</i>) - <i>C</i>42h. In this compound, erbium is octa-coordinated to form [Er(H2O)6Cl2]+ ions with the isolated Cl− completing the structure.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="optical-properties">Optical properties</h2> <p>Erbium(III) chloride solutions show a negative nonlinear absorption effect.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="catalytic-properties">Catalytic properties</h2> <p>The use of erbium(III) chloride as a <a href="/facts/Catalyst/LPBS7TQC">catalyst</a> has been demonstrated in the <a href="/facts/Acylation/9R8o69jN">acylation</a> of <a href="/facts/Alcohols/Y0SCTDkh">alcohols</a> and <a href="/facts/Phenols/xs1CtNTa">phenols</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> and in an <a href="/facts/Amine/JvfYJfP6">amine</a> functionalisation of <a href="/facts/Furfural/xnnVJtsQ">furfural</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> It is a catalyst for <a href="/facts/Friedel%25E2%2580%2593Crafts_reaction/N65aEdXA">Friedel–Crafts-type reactions</a>, and can be used in place of <a href="/facts/Cerium(III)_chloride/z6MKHYhQ">cerium(III) chloride</a> for <a href="/facts/Luche_reduction/0vbrycLK">Luche reductions</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Brauer, G., ed. (1963). Handbook of Preparative Inorganic Chemistry (2nd ed.). New York: Academic Press. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Meyer, G. (1989). "The Ammonium Chloride Route to Anhydrous Rare Earth Chlorides—The Example of Ycl 3". The Ammonium Chloride Route to Anhydrous Rare Earth Chlorides-The Example of YCl3. Inorganic Syntheses. Vol. 25. pp. 146–150. doi:10.1002/9780470132562.ch35. ISBN 978-0-470-13256-2. <a href="978-0-470-13256-2" target="_blank">978-0-470-13256-2</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Edelmann, F. T.; Poremba, P. (1997). Herrmann, W. A. (ed.). Synthetic Methods of Organometallic and Inorganic Chemistry. Vol. VI. Stuttgart: Georg Thieme Verlag. ISBN 978-3-13-103021-4. <a href="978-3-13-103021-4" target="_blank">978-3-13-103021-4</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Tempelton DH, Carter GF (1954). "The Crystal Structure of Yttrium Trichloride and Similar Compounds". J Phys Chem. 58 (11): 940–943. doi:10.1021/j150521a002. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Graebner EJ, Conrad GH, Duliere SF (1966). "Crystallographic data for solvated rare earth chlorides". Acta Crystallographica. 21 (6): 1012–1013. doi:10.1107/S0365110X66004420. <a href="/wiki/Acta_Crystallographica" target="_blank">/wiki/Acta_Crystallographica</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Maeda Y, Akidzuki Y, Yamada T (1998). "All-optical liquid device derived from negative nonlinear absorption effect in an erbium chloride solution". Applied Physics Letters. 73 (17): 2411–2413. Bibcode:1998ApPhL..73.2411M. doi:10.1063/1.122450. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Dalpozzo Renato, De Nino Antonio, Maiuolo Loredana, Oliverio Manuela, Procopio Antonio, Russo Beatrice, Tocci Amedeo (2007) Erbium(iii) Chloride: a Very Active Acylation Catalyst. Australian Journal of Chemistry 60, 75-79. doi:10.1071/CH06346 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Synthesis of trans-4,5-Bis-dibenzylaminocyclopent-2-enone from Furfural Catalyzed by ErCl3·6H2O Mónica S. Estevão, Ricardo J. V. Martins, and Carlos A. M. Afonso Journal of Chemical Education 2017 94 (10), 1587-1589 doi:10.1021/acs.jchemed.6b00470 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Luche, Jean-Louis (2001-04-15), "Erbium(III) Chloride", in John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (ed.), Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. re006, doi:10.1002/047084289x.re006, ISBN 978-0-471-93623-7 <a href="978-0-471-93623-7" target="_blank">978-0-471-93623-7</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>