Gadolinium(III) Chloride

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Gadolinium trichloride, GdCl₃, is a colorless, hygroscopic, water-soluble solid. It is commonly encountered as hexahydrate GdCl₃6H₂O. Gadolinium trichloride can be synthesized by the reaction of solid gadolinium with HCl at 600 °C:

2 Gd + 6 HCl 2 GdCl₃ + 3 H₂

Another way to prepare gadolinium trichloride is to synthesize (NH₄)₂[GdCl₅] which can be decomposed at 300°C to GdCl₃.

10 NH₄Cl + 2 Gd 2 (NH₄)₂[GdCl₅] + 6 NH₃ + 3 H₂
2 (NH₄)₂[GdCl₅] {NH₄[Gd₂Cl₇] + 3NH₄Cl} 2 GdCl₃ + 4 NH₄Cl

Gd³⁺ ions are of special interest for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), since the Gd³⁺ species has an f⁷ electronic configuration with seven unpaired electrons. This results in a highly paramagnetic behavior. As gadolinium salts are toxic, the Gd³⁺ ion has to complexed by a chelating agent (i.e. H5DTPA, diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) for usage in biomedical applications.

Contributors and Attributions

Hans Lohninger (Epina eBook Team)