Scandium ionic radii

Scandium is very widely but thinly distributed and its only rich mineral is the rare thortveitite, Sc2Si20v (p. 348), found in Norway, but since scandium has only small-scale commercial use, and can be obtained as a byproduct in the extraction of other materials, this is not a critical problem. Yttrium and lanthanum are invariably associated with lanthanide elements, the former (Y) with the heavier or Yttrium group lanthanides in minerals such as xenotime, M "P04 and gadolinite, M M SijOio (M = Fe, Be), and the latter (La) with the lighter or cerium group lanthanides in minerals such as monazite, M P04 and bastnaesite, M C03F. This association of similar metals is a reflection of their ionic radii. While La is similar in size to the early lanthanides which immediately follow it in the periodic table, Y , because of the steady fall in ionic radius along the lanthanide series (p. 1234), is more akin to the later lanthanides. 

Scandium triflate (Sc(OTf)3) was also found to be an effective catalyst in aldol reactions in aqueous media1131 In many cases, SdOTf)3 is more active than Yb(OTf)3, as expected from the smaller ionic radius ofSdffl). 

For the trivalent lanthanides99-100 and actinides,99 as well as for yttrium and scandium,75 the equilibrium constant for the extraction reaction has been shown to vary inversely with the ionic radius of the metal ion. It has therefore been concluded that the extracted complexes are all of the M(HA2)3 type, involving predominantly ionic metal—ligand bonds.75 The similarity of the IR spectra of the scandium(III) and thorium(IV) complexes of D2EHPA to those of the alkali metals is also indicative of the importance of ionic bonding.102... 

Most trace elements have values of D< C 1, simply because they differ substantially either in ionic radius or ionic charge, or both, from the atoms of the major elements they replace in the crystal lattice. Because of this, they are called incompatible. Exceptions are trace elements such as strontium in plagioclase, ytterbium, lutetium, and scandium in garnet, nickel in olivine, and scandium in clinopyroxene. These latter elements acmally fit into their host crystal structures slightly better than the major elements they replace, and they are therefore called compatible. Thus, most chemical elements of the periodic table are trace elements, and most of them are incompatible only a handful are compatible. 

The fact that this structure is observed for all M(03SCF3)3 9H20 (M = Sc, Y, La-Lu), irrespective of ionic radius, reflects the role of hydrogen bonding between the coordinated water molecules and the triflate groups in stabilizing the structure and has no implications for the coordination number of scandium in aqueous solution. The high coordination number of nine is the maximum yet observed for scandium. 

Also as a result of the lanthanide contraction, yttrium has an ionic radius comparable to that of the heavier REE species in the holmium-erbium region. If the effective ionic radius (Shannon 1976) of is plotted (0.90 A)., it plots in between element 67 (Ho) and 68 (Er). Scandium (effective ionic radius is 0.745 A), plots outside of the Lanthanide series. As also the outermost electronic arrangement of yttrium is similar to the heavy rare earths, the element behaves chemically like the heavy rare earths. It concentrates during (geo)chemical processes with the heavier REEs, and is difhcult to separate from the heavy REEs. Scandium, on the other hand, has a much smaller atomic radius, and the trivalent ionic size is much smaller than that of the heavy rare earths. Therefore, scandium does not occur in rare earth minerals, and in general has a chemical behavior that is significantiy different from the other rare earth elements (Gupta and Krishnamurthy 2005). 

Thermochemical properties of scandium species, including Sc (aq), have been evaluated by Travers et al. (1976). For completeness, the properties of scandium species are included in this chapter. Because the ionic radius of Sc " is much smaller than that of any other its properties are not included in inter-series comparisons. 

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