Terbium acetylacetonate

Terbium acetylacetonate is a coordination compound with the formula Tb(C5H7O2)3. This anhydrous acetylacetonate complex is often discussed but unlikely to exist per se. The 8-coordinated dihydrate Tb(C5H7O2)3(H2O)2 is a more plausible formula based on the behavior of other lanthanide acetylacetonates. The dihydrate has been characterized by X-ray crystallography. Upon attempted dehydration by heating under vacuum, other hydrated lanthanide tris(acetylacetonate) complexes decompose to give oxo-clusters. The complex can be prepared from terbium salts, acetylacetone, and a base such as ammonia.


 * 3 NH3 + 3 Hacac + Tb(NO3)3 → Tb(acac)3 + 3 NH4NO3

It reacts with 5-[(2-thiophene methylene)amino]-8-hydroxyquinoline (L) by heating in acetonitrile/dichloromethane solution to obtain light yellow [Tb(acac)4(L)6(μ3-OH)2]·CH3CN crystals. It can be used in the preparation of some optical materials.