The chemistry and scope of cerium  and cerium compounds is reviewed here. We manufacture all these compounds and in most instances with these rare earth products , it is important to know the method of manufacture, solubilities, assays and trace impurities.

Rare earth compounds were named not because the individual rare earth elements are rare but because each individual rare earth element rarely exists as a single element but a s a mixture of rare earth elements. Cerium was discovered in Bastnas in Sweden by Jöns Jakob Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger, and independently in Germany by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, both in 1803. Cerium was named by Berzelius after the dwarf planet Ceres, discovered two years earlier (1801). As originally isolated, cerium was in the form of its oxide, and was named ceria, a term that is still used. The metal itself was too electropositive to be isolated by then-current smelting technology, a characteristic of rare earth metals in general. However, the development of electrochemistry by Humphry Davy was only five years into the future, and then the earths were soon to yield the metals they contained. Ceria, as isolated in 1803, contained all of the lanthanides present in the cerite ore from Bastnäs, Sweden, and thus only contained about 45% of what is now known to be pure ceria. It was not until Carl Gustaf Mosander succeeded in removing lanthana and "didymia" in the late 1830s, the result was pure ceria.

The composition of monozite ore is the basis for rare earth impurities found in cerium compounds and the level of impurities is directly related to the separation and source of these ores. Monazite and bastnasite are presently the two most important sources of cerium.

Level of impurities:

 99.9%(REO)  1000ppm total rare earth oxide impurities

99.99%(REO)  100ppm total rare earth oxide impurities

99.999%(REO)  10ppm total rare earth oxide impurities

99.9999%(REO)  1ppm total rare earth oxide impurities

For a certificate of analysis for any of these products ordered contact: techservice@rareearthproducts.com

Cerium chloride, bromide and nitrates are isolated as the hexahydrates and are very soluble in water. Anhydrous halides are also available. Cerium acetate is somewhat soluble in water. (It is important to work with the manufacturer of your rare earth products because in the case of acetates the solubility varies widely depending on the method of manufacture and reaction conditions.

A new exciting cerium compound is cerium trifluoroacetate which is very soluble in water and has new uses as a catalyst in organic synthesis. Cerium oxalate, carbonate and sulfate are insoluble in water and exist as a defined hydrate. These compounds can also be dehydrated.

Another example of purchasing rare earth compounds from a known manufacturer is cerium fluoride. The rare earth fluorides are used in advanced material  films, lens and glasses. In virtually all applications the fluoride should be carbonate free. Rare Earth Products, Inc. uses a proprietary process to make carbonate free rare earth fluorides.

Rare earth Products, Inc makes the most extensive list of rare earth metal beta diketonates. These organometallic compounds are used for MOCVD, spin coating, catalysts and NMR shift reagents to name a few advanced applications. The compounds offered include rare earth metal complexes with

acetylacetonate or 2,4-pentanedionate ACAC

 hepatfluorodimethyloctanedionate FOD

hexafluoracetylacetonate HFAC

tetrametylheptanedionate TMHD 

trifluroacetylacetonate TFAC

chiral ligands OPT etc.

 Most of these compounds are used because of  the physical vapor pressure, volatility and organic solvent solubility. Contact our technical service department to get physical data such as melting points, sublimation temperatures,  solubility,  boiling points,  etc - techservice@rareearthproducts.com.

Rare Earth Products, Inc also manufactures the organic soluble compounds cerium 2-ethylhexanoate and cerium cyclohexanebutyrate. These metal organic  compounds are soluble in organic solvents. We can also custom synthesize various rare earth p compounds by adding various ligands, dehydrating and coordinating various organic solvents to enhance non polar solubility. Contact techservice@rareearthproducts.com.

The intermetallics cerium sulfide, cerium selenide and cerium telluride are available upon request. Cerium trifluorometanesulfonate or cerium triflate is available and useful as a Friedel -Crafts catalyst as the anhydrous salt or the hydrate. A new compound cerium thenoyltrifluoroacetonate is used as a thermal laser dye