METAL OXIDE ALKOXIDE POLYMERS: PART II. THE HYDROLYSIS OF TANTALUM PENTAETHOXIDE

Abstract

The hydrolysis of tantalum pentaethoxide has been studied in boiling benzene and in boiling ethanol. Soluble tantalum oxide ethoxides were obtained over a considerable range of hydrolysis. Infrared studies suggest that Ta—OH groups are absent in these products. Ebulliometric studies have shown that the number-average degree of polymerization varies with the degree of hydrolysis in a characteristic manner and this has been quantitatively explained in terms of fundamental structural models based on octahedrally 6-co-ordinated tantalum.