A comparison of the structural chemistry of scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and lutetium: A contribution to the group 3 debate

Data deposited in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) for compounds of scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and lutetium(III) have been analysed to assess the structural similarities of complexes of the different metal ions. 29 sets of compounds of Sc, Y, La and Lu where at least three of the elements form compounds with the same ligands have been identified and their crystal structures analysed. In 14 of them, scandium and lutetium have the same coordination number; in the remaining 15 they do not. Similarly, there are 10 examples where there is a difference in coordination number between Lu and Y for compounds with the same ligands. For the other 19 either the coordination numbers are the same or that compounds for both the elements under consideration have not been reported. Overall structural differences correlate well with the size of the metal ions and provide no true chemical basis for arranging Lu rather than La in one triad with Sc and Y.