Formation of lanthanum diacetate hydroxide by thermal treatment of lanthanum acetylacetonate dihydrate in an organic solvent containing a small amount of water

Thermal treatment of lanthanum acethylacetonate dihydrate (EAA) in toluene in the presence of a small amount of water at 300 degrees C was examined an d the product was characterized by ISC-NMR, FT-IR, thermal analysis and sca nning electron microscope (SEM). Only acetoxy group (CH3COO-) was confirmed by the NMR measurement and hydroxyl group (-OH) was also observed in addit ion to the acetoxy group in the FTIR spectrum, indicating the LAA was hydro lyzed and the acetylacetonate group was decomposed under the present condit ion. From the results of thermal analysis and elemental analysis, the produ ct was determined to be lanthanum diacetate hydroxide (La(CH3COO)(2)(OH)). SEM observation revealed that the product consisted of thin plate while LAA was bulky mass, suggesting that the product was formed via a dissolution-r ecrystallization mechanism.