Curium(III) chloride

{{Chembox

|Name=Curium(III) chloride

|ImageFile = Curium(III) chloride.jpg

|ImageFile1 = UCl3 without caption.png

|ImageCaption1 = Crystal structure

|Section1={{Chembox Identifiers

|InChI = InChI=1S/3ClH.Cm/h3*1H;/q;;;+3/p-3

|InChIKey = PTLGMSBPLOHNBD-UHFFFAOYSA-K

|CASNo = 13537-20-7

|PubChem = 57418588

|SMILES = Cl[Cm](Cl)Cl

}}

|Section2={{Chembox Properties

|Cm=1 | Cl=3

|Appearance = White solid (anhydrous)
Light green solid (hydrate)

|MeltingPtC = 695

|MeltingPt_ref = {{cn|date=January 2022}}

}}

Curium(III) chloride is the chemical compound with the formula CmCl₃.

Structure

Curium(III) chloride has a 9 coordinate tricapped trigonal prismatic geometry.{{cite book |last1=Greenwood |first1=N. N. |title=Chemistry of the Elements |last2=Earnshaw |first2=A. |date=1997 |edition=2nd |location=Butterworth, UK |pages=1270}}

Synthesis

Curium(III) chloride can be obtained from the reaction of hydrogen chloride gas with curium dioxide, curium(III) oxide, or curium(III) oxychloride at a temperature of 400-600 °C:

:{{chem2|CmOCl + 2HCl -> CmCl3 + H2O}}

It can also be obtained from the dissolution of metallic curium in dilute hydrochloric acid:{{cite journal |last1=Wallmann |first1=J. C. |last2=Fuger |first2=J. |last3=Peterson |first3=J. R. |last4=Green |first4=J. L. |title=Crystal structure and lattice parameters of curium trichloride |journal=Journal of Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry |date=1 November 1967 |volume=29 |issue=11 |pages=2745–2751 |doi=10.1016/0022-1902(67)80013-7 |s2cid=97334114 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0022190267800137 |access-date=3 July 2023 |language=en |issn=0022-1902|url-access=subscription }}

:2Cm {+} 6HCl ->[{}\atop\ce{H2O}] 2CmCl3 {+} 3H2

This method is complicated by the ongoing processes of hydrolysis and hydration of the resulting compound in an aqueous solution, making it problematic to obtain a pure product.

It can be obtained from the reaction of curium nitride with cadmium chloride:{{cite journal |last1=Hayashi |first1=Hirokazu |last2=Takano |first2=Masahide |last3=Otobe |first3=Haruyoshi |last4=Koyama |first4=Tadafumi |title=Syntheses and thermal analyses of curium trichloride |journal=Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry |date=July 2013 |volume=297 |issue=1 |pages=139–144 |doi=10.1007/s10967-012-2413-7 |bibcode=2013JRNC..297..139H |s2cid=95792512}}

:{{chem2|2 CmN + 3 CdCl2 -> 2 CmCl3 + Cd3N2}}

References

Category:Curium compounds

Category:Nuclear materials

Category:Chlorides

Category:Actinide halides