Praseodymium compounds

[5] PrCl3 forms a stable Lewis acid-base complex K2PrCl5 by reaction with potassium chloride; this compound shows interesting optical and magnetic properties.

These compounds are very similar to those of the other lanthanides, as they all share an inability to undergo π backbonding.

They are thus mostly restricted to the mostly ionic cyclopentadienides (isostructural with those of lanthanum) and the σ-bonded simple alkyls and aryls, some of which may be polymeric.

For instance, like lanthanum, cerium, and neodymium, praseodymium nitrate forms both the 4:3 and 1:1 complexes with 18-crown-6, whereas the middle lanthanides from promethium to gadolinium can only form the 4:3 complex and the later lanthanides from terbium to lutetium cannot successfully coordinate to all the ligands.

[25] Praseodymium(III) nitride is used in high-end electric and semiconductor products, and as a raw material to produce phosphor.

If mixed with certain other materials, praseodymium(III) oxalate paints glass intense yellow.

[27] Praseodymium(III,IV) oxide has a number of potential applications in chemical catalysis, and is often used in conjunction with a promoter such as sodium or gold to improve its catalytic performance.

It has a high-K dielectric constant of around 30 and very low leakage currents[28] which have also made it a promising material for many potential applications in nanodevices and microelectronics.