Cerocene Explained

Cerocene is a metal organic compound of cerium with the chemical formula Ce(C₅H₅)₃. It is the most unstable of the lanthanocenes in dry air. It, and the other lanthanocenes, is different from cyclopentadiene complexes of general transition metals and is considered to be ionically bonded.

Preparation

Cerocene can be obtained by reacting anhydrous cerium chloride and sodium cyclopentadienide in a tetrahydrofuran medium:

3C₅H₅Na + CeCl₃ → (C₅H₅)₃Ce+ 3 NaCl

Chemical properties

Cerocene decomposes when exposed to water to produce cerium(III) hydroxide and cyclopentadiene.

Related compounds

There are literature reports on the synthesis^[1] and properties^[2] of the tetravalent cerium compound Ce(C₅H₅)₄, but it has been pointed out that the synthesis method is not credible.^{[3] [4]}

Notes and References

1. Journal of Organometallic Chemistry. 28. 1. en. Apr 1971. 87–89. 10.1016/S0022-328X(00)81578-8. Tetracyclopentadienyl and tetraindenyl compounds of cerium(IV). 2019-12-19. B.L. Kalsotra, S.P. Anand, R.K. Multani, B.D. Jain. 2018-06-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20180629143314/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022328X00815788. live.
2. 任镜清, 徐光宪. 四茂铈(Ce(C₅H₅)₄)的电子结构和化学键[J]. 科学通报, 1985(19):23-28.
3. Polyhedron. 2. 9. en. Jan 1983. 969–970. 10.1016/S0277-5387(00)81419-9. Refutation of the synthesis of tetrakis(cyclopentadienyl)cerium(IV). 2019-12-19. G.B. Deacon, T.D. Tuong, D.G. Vince. 2018-06-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20180601205803/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277538700814199. live.
4. Chemical Society Reviews. 46. 22. en. 0306-0012. 2017. 6697–6709. 10.1039/C7CS00147A. The difficult search for organocerium(iv) compounds. 2019-12-19. Reiner Anwander, Michael Dolg, Frank T. Edelmann.