The complexation equilibria between
Mg2+ and d-gluconate (Gluc–)
ions are of particular importance in modeling the chemical speciation
in low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste repositories. NMR
measurements and potentiometric titrations conducted at 25 °C
and 4 M ionic strength revealed the formation of the MgGluc+, MgGlucOH0, MgGluc(OH)2–, and Mg3Gluc2(OH)40 complexes.
The trinuclear species provides indirect evidence for the existence
of multinuclear magnesium(II) hydroxido complexes, whose formation
was proposed earlier but has not been confirmed yet. Additionally,
speciation calculations demonstrated that MgCl2 can markedly
decrease the solubility of thorium(IV) at low ligand concentrations.
Regarding the structure of MgGluc+, both IR spectra and
density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate the monodentate
coordination of Gluc–. By the potentiometric data,
the acidity of the water molecules is higher in the MgGluc+ and MgGlucOH0 species than in the Mg(H2O)62+ aqua ion. On the basis of DFT calculations,
this ligand-promoted hydrolysis is caused by strong hydrogen bonds
forming between Gluc– and Mg(H2O)62+. Conversely, metal-ion-induced ligand deprotonation
takes place in the case of calcium(II) complexes, giving rise to salient
variations on the NMR spectra in a strongly alkaline medium.