Rare earth metals yttrium

Usherenko, L. N., Skorik, N. A., Hydrolysis of rare earth metal, yttrium, scandium, and thorium ions in water and in aqueous-ethanol mixtures, Russ. J. Inorg. Chem., 17, (1972), 1533-1535. Cited on pages 135, 137, 140, 156, 157, 158, 534, 537, 538. 

Scandium is a silver-white metal which develops a slightly yellowish or pinkish cast upon exposure to air. A relatively soft element, scandium resembles yttrium and the rare-earth metals more than it resembles aluminum or titanium. 

Group 3 (IIIB) and Inner Transition-Metal Perchlorates. The rare-earth metal perchlorates of yttrium and lanthanum have been reported (53). Tetravalent cerium perchlorate [14338-93-3] 06(0.04)4, and uranium perchlorate have also been identified (54). 

Calcium metal is an excellent reducing agent for production of the less common metals because of the large free energy of formation of its oxides and hahdes. The following metals have been prepared by the reduction of their oxides or fluorides with calcium hafnium (22), plutonium (23), scandium (24), thorium (25), tungsten (26), uranium (27,28), vanadium (29), yttrium (30), zirconium (22,31), and most of the rare-earth metals (32). 

RBa2Cu307 ceramics (R is a rare-earth metal or yttrium) EFG tensor, comparison with point charge calculation, spatial distribution of electron defects in the lattice... 

E. Morrice, J. E. Murphy and M. M. Wong, Preparation of Rare Earth and Yttrium Metals by... 

The 3rd group of the Periodic Table (the 1st column within the block of the transition elements) contains the metals scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, and actinium. Lanthanum (atomic number 57) may be considered the earliest member of the family of metals, called lanthanides (general symbol Ln), forming, inside the principal transition series, an inner transition series (up to atomic number 71). Scandium and yttrium together with the lanthanides are also called rare earth metals (general symbol R). 

Within the lanthanides the first ones from La to Eu are the so-called light lanthanides, the other are the heavy ones. Together with the heavy lanthanides it may be useful to consider also yttrium the atomic dimensions of this element and some general characteristics of its alloying behaviour are indeed very similar to those of typical heavy lanthanides, such as Dy or Ho. An important subdivision within the lanthanides, or more generally within the rare earth metals, is that between the divalent ones (europium and ytterbium which have been described together with other divalent metals in 5.4) and the trivalent ones (all the others, scandium and yttrium included). 

Yttrium is always found with the rare-earth elements, and in some ways it resembles them. Although it is sometimes classified as a rare-earth element, it is listed in the periodic table as the first element in the second row (period 5) of the transition metals. It is thus also classified as the lightest in atomic weight of all the rare-earths. (Note Yttrium is located in the periodic table just above the element lanthanum (group 3), which begins the lanthanide rare-earth series. 

Yttrium (j Y) is often confused with another element of the lanthanide series of rare Earths— Ytterbium ( Yb). Also confusing is the fact that the rare-earth elements terbium and erbium were found in the same minerals in the same quarry in Sweden. Yttrium ranks second in abundance of all 16 rare-earth, and Ytterbium ranks 10th. Yttrium is a dark silvery-gray hghtweight metal that, in the form of powder or shavings, will ignite spontaneously. Therefore, it is considered a moderately active rare-earth metal. 

Recently, rare-earth metal complexes have attracted considerable attention as initiators for the preparation of PLA via ROP of lactides, and promising results were reported in most cases [94—100]. Group 3 members (e.g. scandium, yttrium) and lanthanides such as lutetium, ytterbium, and samarium have been frequently used to develop catalysts for the ROP of lactide. The principal objectives of applying rare-earth complexes as initiators for the preparation of PLAs were to investigate (1) how the spectator ligands would affect the polymerization dynamics (i.e., reaction kinetics, polymer composition, etc.), and (2) the relative catalytic efficiency of lanthanide(II) and (III) towards ROPs. 

Scandium metal reacts rapidly with most acids hberating hydrogen and forming salts upon evaporation of the solution. Scandium, however, is not attacked by 1 1 mixture of concentrated nitric acid and 48% hydrofluoric acid. A similar behavior is exhibited by yttrium and heavy rare earth metals. 

The crystal chemistry of BajRC C has been systematically studied by single-crystal and powder diffraction methods with R = La, Pr,... Yb, in addition to the conventional yttrium compound [(52)(53) (54) and references therein]. With the exception of La, Pr, and Tb, the substitution of Y with rare-earth metals has little or no effect on the superconductivity, with the values of Tc ranging from 87 to 95K. Also, a relatively small change is observed in the cell constants of these compounds. The La, Pr, and Tb-substituted materials are not superconductors. A detailed structural analysis of the Pr case (52) did not show any evidence of a superstructure or the presence of other differences with the atomic configuration of the yttrium prototype. 

An interesting selectivity in the transfer of alkyl groups (n-Alk>Me) is observed in these addition reactions. The regioselectivity of the reaction of crotylmagnesium chloride (213) with benzaldehyde strongly depends on the presence of various rare-earth metal chlorides. The a- to y ratio of products can be switched to the opposite by using only another metal salt. Yttrium trichloride gives exclusively y-product, while neodymium trichloride leads to 89% of the a-attack (with 92% of ( )-isomer) (equation 142) °. 

Carboxylic acids represent a group of readily available and relatively inexpensive extractants. They have found rather limited application in commercial processes, however, probably on account of their generally low selectivity and poor pH functionality. Nevertheless, they have been used for the separation of copper from nickel,37 the removal of iron from the rare-earth metals,38 separations among yttrium and the rare earths,39 the recovery of indium40 and gallium,41 the removal of... 

The use of organophosphorus acids, such as di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (D2EHPA di(2-ethylhexyl) monohydrogen phosphate 2 R = C4H9CH(Et)CH2), is now well established in the recovery of base metals. This reagent has found commercial application in the separation of cobalt from nickel,67 68 the separation of zinc from impurities such as copper and cadmium,69 the recovery of uranium,68 beryllium70 and vanadium,71 and in separations involving yttrium and the rare-earth metals.72 73... 

The solvent extraction of rare-earth nitrates into solutions of TBP has been used commercially for the production of high-purity oxides of yttrium, lanthanum, praseodymium and neodymium from various mineral concentrates,39 as well as for the recovery of mixed rare-earth oxides as a byproduct in the manufacture of phosphoric acid from apatite ores.272 273 In both instances, extraction is carried out from concentrated nitrate solutions, and the loaded organic phases are stripped with water. The rare-earth metals are precipitated from the strip liquors in the form of hydroxides or oxalates, both of which can be calcined to the oxides. Since the distribution coefficients (D) for adjacent rare earths are closely similar, mixer—settler assemblies with 50 or more stages operated under conditions of total reflux are necessary to yield products of adequate purity.39... 

A lean NOx trap (LNT) (or NOx adsorber) is similar to a three-way catalyst. However, part of the catalyst contains some sorbent components which can store NOx. Unlike catalysts, which involve continuous conversion, a trap stores NO and (primarily) N02 under lean exhaust conditions and releases and catalytically reduces them to nitrogen under rich conditions. The shift from lean to rich combustion, and vice versa, is achieved by a dedicated fuel control strategy. Typical sorbents include barium and rare earth metals (e.g. yttrium). An LNT does not require a separate reagent (urea) for NOx reduction and hence has an advantage over SCR. However, the urea infrastructure has now developed in Europe and USA, and SCR has become the system of choice for diesel vehicles because of its easier control and better long-term performance compared with LNT. NOx adsorbers have, however, found application in GDI engines where lower NOx-reduction efficiencies are required, and the switch between the lean and rich modes for regeneration is easier to achieve. 

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