COORDINATION AROUND THORIUM(IV) IN AQUEOUS PERCHLORATE, CHLORIDE AND NITRATE SOLUTIONS

The coordination around the thorium(IV) ion in aqueous perchlorate, chloride and nitrate solutions has been determined from large angle X-ray scattering measurements. In perchlorate solutions, where inner-sphere complexes are not formed, the first coordination sphere contains 8.0 +/- 0.5 water molecules with Th-H2O bond lengths of 2.48(5) angstrom. In chloride solutions inner-sphere complexes are formed, which lead to an increase in the coordination number. In nitrate solutions the nitrate ions are bonded as bidentate ligands to the thorium ion. The bond lengths are similar to those found in crystalline hydrates of thorium nitrate. The coordination numbers found for thorium(IV) in solution are compared with previously reported values for lower charged ions of similar size.