Formation and hydrolysis of polynuclear Th(IV) complexes – a nano-electrospray mass-spectrometry study

Abstract

Polynuclear hydroxide complexes play an important role for the hydrolysis of tetravalent thorium ions in aqueous solution, in particular for Th(IV) concentrations exceeding some [Th(IV)]=10−4 M. Consequently, these polymers must be considered when describing hydrolysis of Th(IV) or dissolution processes of Th(IV) solids. In the past, considerable efforts were made to obtain equilibrium formation constants of these polymers and different stoichiometries for dimers, tetramers and hexamers have been suggested. However, most information was obtained from indirect methods, in particular, from potentiometric titrations. In the present work, we present an approach of directly quantifying polymeric metal hydroxide complexes in solution. By nano-electrospray mass-spectrometry the degrees of polymerization, i.e. the numbers of Th4+ ions and the numbers of hydroxide ligands, and as a consequence, also the charges of the complexes are measured. All mono- and polynuclear species which are present in solution are quantified simultaneously down to species contributing less than 0.1% of the total [Th(IV)] concentration. Solutions of [Th(IV)]=6×10−6–10−1 M are investigated in HCl at [H+]=10−4–0.1 M. More than 30 different polymeric complexes are observed with the general trend of increasing number of hydroxide ligands with decreasing acidity. A surprising finding is the presence of the pentamer Th5(OH)y z +, which was not described in the literature before. With decreasing Th(IV) concentration the stability field of polymers narrows continuously until polymers can no longer be detected below [Th(IV)]=10−5 M.