page_title: Cerium nitrate
section_title: Ceric double nitrates
hierarchical_section_title: Cerium nitrate / Ceric double nitrates
context_page_description: Cerium nitrate refers to a family of nitrates of cerium in the three or four oxidation state. Often these compounds contain water, hydroxide, or hydronium ions in addition to cerium and nitrate. Double nitrates of cerium also exist.
context_section_description: The alkali metals form orange-red monoclinic crystals as a double salt with ceric nitrate: M
  ₂[Ce(NO
  ₃)
  ₆] with M=K, Rb, Cs, or [NH₄].
  Ceric ammonium nitrate contains the icosahedral shaped ion [Ce(NO
  ₃)
  ₆]²⁻
   which has cerium in the +4 oxidation state. It is used as a reagent in oxidimetry.
  Ceric potassium nitrate K
  ₂[Ce(NO
  ₃)
  ₆] has two different crystal forms, hexagonal and monoclinic. Slow evaporation and crystallization results in the monoclinic form. But fast crystallization results in a mixture of the two shapes. Both of these forms have six nitrate groups connected via two oxygens each to the cerium [Ce(NO
  ₃)
  ₆]²⁻
  . The substance is made by dissolving ceric hydroxide in nitric acid with the appropriate stoichiometric amount of potassium nitrate. In the hexagonal form the cerium atoms are arranged along a threefold axis. In hexagonal form the potassium ions are surrounded by nine oxygen atoms. These crystals are orange hexagonal shaped plates. Crystal cells contain three molecules, with a volume of 1063.1Å³ and dimensions of a=13.5737Å c=6.6624Å with a density of 2.767 g/cm³.
  In the monoclinic form of K
  ₂[Ce(NO
  ₃)
  ₆], the cerium atoms are in a body centred arrangement, with potassium surrounded by ten oxygen atoms. The density is 2.798 g/cm³ with a cell that contains two molecules with volume 700.9Å³ and dimensions a = 12.707Å b = 6.6858Å c = 8.253Å and β = 91.55°.
  Ceric potassium nitrate also has a hydrate with 1.5 mols of water.
  Ceric rubidium nitrate Rb
  ₂[Ce(NO
  ₃)
  ₆] is reddish yellow.
  Ceric caesium nitrate Cs
  ₂[Ce(NO
  ₃)
  ₆] is very insoluble in nitric acid and is bright yellow.
  The thallium double salt cannot be produced because the ceric ion oxidizes thallium(I) to thallium(III).
caption: Diammonium cerium(IV) nitrate
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