Studies on the Thermal Decompositions of Heteropolynuclear Glyoxylates of Cr(III) and Cu(II)

Complexes of Cr(III):Cu(II) with the glyoxylate dianion as ligand were synthesized in the range of cation atomic ratios (0.01–8):1.0. The results of non-isothermal analysis of the synthesized compounds correlated with the results of IR and UV-VIS spectroscopy, and gas chromatography of the volatile products of the decomposition allowed the formulation of a mechanism for the decomposition of the complex with Cr(III):Cu(II)=2:1 and the assumption that the other complexes are mixtures of this with the homopolynuclear complexes of Cr(III) and Cu(II), depending on the ratio of the cations Cr(III):Cu(II). The thermal conversion of the complexes takes place at relatively low temperatures, with partial transformation of the ligand into oxalate and of the oxide mixture into CuCrO₄. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.