Lanthanide aqua ions stability

The zinc reduction of Eu + to Eu +, followed by its precipitation as the sulfate, is a traditional step in the separation of europium from other lanthanides. In general, the solubilities of the inorganic compounds of the Ln + ions resemble those of the corresponding compounds of the alkaline earth metals (insoluble sulfate, carbonate, hydroxide, oxalate). Both europium and the Sm + and Yb + ions can also be prepared by other methods (e.g. electrolysis), although these solutions of the latter two metals tend to be short-lived and oxygen-sensitive in particular. Eu + is the only divalent aqua ion with any real stability in solution. Several divalent lanthanides can, however, be stabilized by the use of nonaqueous solvents such as HMPA and THE, in which they have characteristic colors, quite distinct from those for the isoelectronic trivalent ions on account of the decreased term separations. 

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