STRUCTURE AND PHOTODECOMPOSITION STUDIES OF COMPLEX ACID HYDROGEN AQUEOETHYLENEDIAMINETETRAACETATOFERRATE(3) AND SEVERAL OF ITS METAL(I) SALTS

The alkali metal, ammonium, and tetramethylammonium salts of the aquoethylenediaminetetraacetato-ferrate(III) anion, Fe(OH2)Y -, were prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, thermogravimetric analyses, and infrared spectroscopy. All were found to be less photosensitive to ultraviolet radiation in the 250 to 400 mµ region than the parent complex acid, HFe(OH2)Y. Photosensitivity was measured as the rate of evolution of carbon dioxide and was found to increase generally with decrease in surface charge density (increase in ionic radius) of the companion cation. The influence of the companion cation is upon the Fe-O bonds between the iron and the ligand, and probably is due to its interaction with the oxygen atoms of the coordinated carboxylate groups. © 1968, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.