Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => Inorganic Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: omega54 on January 08, 2008, 07:07:55 PM
-
Hello, I recently was searching a Element collecting site, and came upon a listing for a compound of Yttrium Trichloride, ampouled under Argon gas.
Could someone explain what is the attraction of this compound to element collectors and what makes this a rare chemical, as it seems to be selling very fast?
Excuse my iqnorance, but would appreciate any insight.
Many thanks
-
Yttrium in elemental form is highly reactive and dangerous. The common oxidation state is +3 and is therefore kept as a trichloride because of stability.
-
Thank you for your reply concerning the yttrium trichloride, so if one purchases pure elemental
yttrium metal sealed in argon in a ampoule as most dealers offer it, will remain safe and unaffected as long as kept sealed?
thanks again
steve
-
Thinking about it again, Yttrium is somewhat stable in air and should be suitable in a ampule sealed with Argon. I believe the reason that it is sold as YCl3 is due to availability and difficulty of obtaining purity of elemental Yttrium. (Which probably means it is expensive)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yttrium#Occurrence