Probing the bonding in dimers of tetravalent Cerium and actinide homologues

摘要

Cerium can be stabilized in solution in a tetravalent form in the presence of nitrates, predominantly as eerie ammonium nitrate (CAN) assigned as a monomeric hexanitrate cerium structure. However, recent synchrotron X-rays and Raman spectroscopy have challenged this picture, and propose instead an unusual Ce-O-Ce dimeric linkage observed when CAN is dissolved in water.1