Americium(III) chloride

Americium(III) chloride or americium trichloride is the chemical compound composed of americium and chlorine with the formula AmCl3. This salt forms pink hexagonal crystals. In the solid state each americium atom has nine chlorine atoms as near neighbours, at approximately the same distance, in a tricapped trigonal prismatic configuration.[3][4]

Americium(III) chloride
Unit cell, ball and stick model of americium(III) chloride with a legend
Names
IUPAC name
Americium(III) chloride
Systematic IUPAC name
Americium(3+) chloride
Other names
Americium chloride
Americium trichloride
Identifiers
3D model (JSmol)
ChemSpider
  • InChI=1S/Am.3ClH/h;3*1H/q+3;;;/p-3 checkY
    Key: GQKWPBIZTINWCF-UHFFFAOYSA-K checkY
  • [Cl-].[Cl-].[Cl-].[Am+3]
Properties
AmCl3
Molar mass 349 g·mol−1
Appearance Light red, opaque crystals
Density 5.87 g cm−3[1]
Melting point 715 °C (1,319 °F; 988 K)[2]
Boiling point 850 °C (1,560 °F; 1,120 K)[1]
Structure
hexagonal (UCl3 type), hP8
P63/m, No. 176
Tricapped trigonal prismatic
(nine-coordinate)
Related compounds
Other anions
 Americium(III) fluoride
Americium(III) bromide
Americium(III) iodide
Other cations
 Plutonium(III) chloride
Curium(III) chloride
Europium(III) chloride
Americium(II) chloride
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Infobox references

The hexahydrate has a monocline crystal structure with: a = 970.2 pm, b = 656.7 pm and c = 800.9 pm; β = 93° 37'; space group: P2/n.[5]

Reactions

An americium(III) chloride electrorefining method has been investigated to separate mixtures of actinides, since the standard Gibbs free energy of formation of americium(III) chloride is much different than the rest of the actinide chlorides.[6] This can be used to remove americium from plutonium by melting the crude mixture together with salts such as sodium chloride.[7]

References
  1. "Chemistry: Periodic Table: americium: compound data (americium (III) chloride)". WebElements. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  2. Perry, Dale L.; Phillips, Sidney L. (1995), Handbook of Inorganic Compounds, CRC Press, p. 15, ISBN 0-8493-8671-3, retrieved 2008-06-25
  3. L. B. Asprey, T. K. Keenan, F. H. Kruse: "Crystal Structures of the Trifluorides, Trichlorides, Tribromides, and Triiodides of Americium and Curium", Inorg. Chem. 1965, 4 (7), 985–986; doi:10.1021/ic50029a013.
  4. A. F. Wells: Structural Inorganic Chemistry 5th edition (1984) Oxford Science Publications, ISBN 0-19-855370-6.
  5. John H. Burns, Joseph Richard Peterson: "The Crystal Structures of Americium Trichloride Hexahydrate and Berkelium Trichloride Hexahydrate", Inorg. Chem. 1971, 10 (1), 147–151; doi:10.1021/ic50095a029.
  6. Nuclear Energy Agency (2001), Proceedings of the Workshop on Pyrochemical Separations, Avignon, France: OECD Publishing, pp. 276–277, ISBN 92-64-18443-0, retrieved 2008-06-24
  7. Plutonium Processing In The Nuclear Weapons Complex, Diane Publishing, 1992, p. 21, ISBN 1-56806-568-X, retrieved 2008-06-24


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