Abstract
Intercalation reactions of water and ethylene glycol into the interlayer space of copper (II) montmorillonite have been investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, and infrared and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies. Both of the guest molecules form a single-layer, a double-layer and a triple-layer (only with water) complexes between the silicate layers. In the single-layer complex copper (II) ions are co-ordinated octahedrally to six oxygen atoms, two of them being the silicate oxygen atoms and the others guest molecules co-ordinated to the cation, and the symmetry axis is perpendicular to the silicate layers. In the doublelayer complex copper (II) ions are in an axially elongated tetragonal field of six coordinated molecules with the symmetry axis inclined with respect to the layer surfaces at an angle near 45°. If there layers of water molecules occupy the interlayer region, the hydrated copper (II) ions are free in tumbling motion to almost the same extent as that in an aqueous solution. The interlayer copper (II) ions complexed with water and ethylene glycol were irreversibly hydrolyzed in contact with air.
