The nephelauxetic effect in rare earth complexes illustrated for praseodymium (III)

Abstract

With the availability of the ‘free ion’ spectrum of trivalent praseodymium, a closer analysis of the nephelauxetic effect in praseodymium complexes is made. An explanation for the greater decrease of F ₂ parameter compared to F ₄ and F ₆ has been presented. A theoretical explanation of the two slopes resulting for the plot of the term scheme of praseodymium complexes against the free ion is also given.