Yttrium(III) acetate tetrahydrate

Yttrium acetate tetrahydrate is a white, crystalline salt. The salt is soluble in water and mineral acids as well as solutions, such as methoxyethanol with diethylenetriamine, that complex with the Y³⁺ cations.

Yttrium acetate is a common reactant in the synthesis of yttrium compounds including yttrium oxides and yttrium fluorides. Yttrium acetate is particularly useful because of its solubility in and low thermal decomposition temperature, which make it attractive for hydrothermal reactions and co-precipitation processing before calcination.

A major application of high-purity yttrium acetate is in the synthesis of sodium yttrium fluoride (NaYF₄) nanoparticles. Typically, in these syntheses, yttrium acetate is mixed with oleic acid in octadecene and heated to form Y(oleate)₃, which is reacted with ammonium fluoride and sodium hydroxide in methanol at modest temperatures (e.g. 50 C) to form NaYF₄ nanoparticles. This synthesis offers great control over particle size and crystallinity and allows for easy incorporation rare-earth metal dopants.
Lanthanide-doped NaYF₄ nanoparticles are one of the most studied materials for up conversion. These nanoparticles, which can convert two photons of near-infrared (NIR) light into visible light, have important in-vivo applications because of the deep tissue penetration abilities of NIR. For example, these nanoparticles have been used for in-vivo Zn²⁺ optical sensing, in-vivo ratiometric sensing of lymphatic inflammation,, and in-vivo sensing of peroxynitrite.