Correlation between the Molecular Refractions of Crystals and the Ionic Radii of the Cations in the Rare-Earth Trifluoride Homologous Series
We have identified linear correlations between the molecular refractions R{sub mol} (cm{sup 3}/mol) of crystals and the ionic radii r{sub i} (Å) of the cations in the RF{sub 3} rare-earth trifluoride homologous series: R{sub mol} = 8.33r{sub i} + 0.102 for R = La–Nd and R{sub mol} = 13.03r{sub i}–4.42 for R = Sm–Lu. The fact that the RF{sub 3} rare-earth trifluorides can be divided into two groups is related to the morphotropic transition from the LaF{sub 3} (tysonite) structure to the β-YF{sub 3} structure. The correlation found here for RF{sub 3} crystals with the β-YF{sub 3} structure because the electronic structure of Y (4d{sup 1}5s{sup 2}) differs from that of Sm–Lu (4f{sup 6–14}5d{sup 0–1}6s{sup 2}) in that it has no 4f electrons.