Colorless crystal, [Ce(NO3)5H2O]· (C3N2H5) 2, has been obtained from the reaction of Ce(NO3) 3 with imdazole in the aqueous solution and its crystal structure has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. The crystal belongs to triclinic, space group P1. The cell parameters are: a = 0. 7489(l ) um, b = 0. 7914(2) nm, c = 1. 8139(3) nm, a = 89. 39(2)°, β = 89. 37(l） °,γ = 63. 18(2)°, Dc = 2. 1g. cm-3, Z = 2, R = 0. 0319. In the compound, all of five nitrates are bidentate and one molecule of water is monodentate, the coordination number of Ce (Ⅲ) is 11. The processes of thermal decomposition of the compound was proposed by its TG curve.
The complex ·(ClO4)2 was synthesied and characterized by X ray diffraction. X ray diffraction result for the single crystal showed that the crystal belongs to triclinic, space group , a=0.8123(2),b=1.1024(2), c=1.8646(4)nm,α=102.30(3)°,β=91.00(3)°,γ=99.69(3)°,V=1.6056(6)nm3,Z=2,Dc=1.494g·cm-3. The thermal decomposition of (ClO4)2 occurred in a three steps pattern. The reaction mechanism of the first step decomposition was deduced as n(1-α)[-ln(1-α)](n-1)/n with the activation energy of 130kJ·mol-1.
