Lanthanide contraction over the 4f series follows a quadratic decay.
An analysis of the structural data available for isotypical series of rare earth compounds shows that the contraction of X-ray determined Ln-O bond distances over the f block is at least quadratic. Such quadratic decay is observed also for Ln(III) ionic radii, calculated bond distances, and lanthanide atomic orbital expectation values.
Quadrelli
Elsje Alessandra
EA
Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università di Pisa, via Risorgimento 35, I-56126 Pisa (Italy). quadrelli@cpe.fr