SYNTHESIS, PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURES OF SOME LANTHANIDE NITRATE COMPLEXES WITH N-BUTYLCAPROLACTAM, LN[CH2(CH2)(4)CONC4H9](3)(NO3)(3)

Some lanthanide nitrate complexes with N-butylcaprolactam of general f ormula Ln(CH2(CH2)(4)CONC4H9](3)(NO3)(3) have been prepared and charac terized by means of elemental analysis and IR spectra. The crystal and molecular structures of Tm[CH2 (CH2)(4)CONC4H9](3)(NO3)(3) and Nd[CH2 (CH2)(4)CONC4H9](3)(NO3)(3) have been determined by single-crystal X-r ay diffraction. The two complexes are isostructural and crystallize in the monoclinic system, space group P2(1)/c. Thulium(III) [Nd(III)] is coordinated through three carbonyls of three organic ligands and the three nitrates are all bidentate ligands. So each Tm(III) [Nd(III)] is coordinated by nine oxygens, which form a distorted tricapped trigona l prism. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd