Neodymium(III) fluoride is an

inorganic chemical In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistr ...

compound of

neodymium Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is the fourth member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth metals. It is a hard, slightly malleable, silvery metal that quickly tarnishes i ...

and

fluorine Fluorine is a chemical element with the symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists at standard conditions as a highly toxic, pale yellow diatomic gas. As the most electronegative reactive element, it is extremely reacti ...

with the formula NdF₃. It is a purplish pink colored solid with a high melting point.

Preparation

Like other lanthanide fluorides it is highly

insoluble In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution. The extent of the solubil ...

in water which allows it to be synthesised from aqueous

neodymium nitrate Neodymium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula Nd(NO3)3. It is typically encountered as the hexahydrate, Nd(NO3)3·6H2O, which is more accurately formulated as d(NO3)3(H2O)42H2O to reflect the crystal structure. It decomposes to NdO ...

via a reaction with

hydrofluoric acid Hydrofluoric acid is a Solution (chemistry), solution of hydrogen fluoride (HF) in water. Solutions of HF are colourless, acidic and highly Corrosive substance, corrosive. It is used to make most fluorine-containing compounds; examples include th ...

, from which it precipitates as a hydrate: : Nd(NO₃)_3(aq) + 3 HF → NdF₃•½H₂O + 3 HNO₃ It can also be obtained by the reaction of

neodymium(III) oxide Neodymium(III) oxide or neodymium sesquioxide is the chemical compound composed of neodymium and oxygen with the formula Nd2O3. It forms very light grayish-blue hexagonal crystals. The rare-earth mixture didymium, previously believed to be an el ...

and

Georg Brauer Georg Karl Brauer (born 11. April 1908 in Bochum, died 26. February 2001 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German chemist. Life Brauer was the son of the chemist Eberhard Brauer and Elisabeth Brauer, a daughter of Wilhelm Ostwald. From 1926 to 1932 ...

(Hrsg.), unter Mitarbeit von

Marianne Baudler Marianne Baudler (27 April 1921 – 5 March 2003) was a German chemist. She is known for her research on phosphorus. Life Marianne Baudler was born in Stettin. She started studying Chemistry at the TH Dresden in April 1940 and finished her studi ...

u. a.: ''Handbuch der Präparativen Anorganischen Chemie.'' 3., umgearbeitete Auflage. Band I, Ferdinand Enke, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-432-02328-6, S. 254. :Nd₂O₃ + 6HF → 2NdF₃ + 3H₂O Anhydrous material may be obtained by the simple drying of the hydrate, in contrast to the hydrates of other neodymium halides, which form mixed oxyhalides if heated.

Uses

Neodymium(III) fluoride is often used in the manufacture of

fluoride glass Fluoride glass is a class of non-oxide optical glasses composed of fluorides of various metals. They can contain heavy metals such as zirconium, or be combined with lighter elements like aluminum and beryllium. These heavier elements cause the gla ...

es. When neodymium is extracted from ores, the fluoride is often an intermediate product and is then reduced to the solid metal chemically (e.g. by adding

calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

, which produces calcium fluoride) or by fused-salt

electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...

Other compounds

Neodymium(III) fluoride forms compounds with N₂H₄, such as NdF₃•3N₂H₄•3H₂O which is a white hexagonal crystal, soluble in

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

, slightly soluble in

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

and

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

, with ''d20°C'' = 2.3547 g/cm³.Izvestii︠a︡ vysshikh uchebnykh zavedeniĭ: Khimii︠a︡ i khimicheskai︠a︡ tekhnologii︠a︡, Tập 16,Số phát hành 1
(Ivanovskiĭ khimiko-tekhnologicheskiĭ in-t, 1973), pages 181–182. Retrieved 19 Jan 2021.

References

{{Lanthanide halides Neodymium compounds Fluorides Lanthanide halides