Lutetium

OccurrenceLutetium is the 60th most abundant element on Earth, and it ranks 15th in the abundanceof the rare-earths. It is one of the rarest of the lanthanide series. It is found in monazite sand(India, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, and Florida), which contains small amounts of all therare-earths. Lutetium is found in the concentration of about 0.0001% in monazite. It is difficultto separate it from other rare-earths by the ion-exchange process. In the pure metallicform, lutetium is difficult to prepare, which makes is very expensive.

HistoryIn 1907, Urbain described a process by which Marignac’s ytterbium (1879) could be separated into the two elements, ytterbium (neoytterbium) and lutetium. These elements were identical with “aldebaranium” and “cassiopeium,” independently discovered by von Welsbach about the same time. Charles James of the University of New Hampshire also independently prepared the very pure oxide, lutecia, at this time. The spelling of the element was changed from lutecium to lutetium in 1949. Lutetium occurs in very small amounts in nearly all minerals containing yttrium, and is present in monazite to the extent of about 0.003%, which is a commercial source. The pure metal has been isolated only in recent years and is one of the most difficult to prepare. It can be prepared by the reduction of anhydrous LuCl3 or LuF3 by an alkali or alkaline earth metal. The metal is silvery white and relatively stable in air. While new techniques, including ion-exchange reactions, have been developed to separate the various rare-earth elements, lutetium is still the most costly of all rare earths. It is priced at about $100/g (99.9%). 176Lu occurs naturally (97.41%) with 175Lu (2.59%), which is radioactive with a very long half-life of about 4 × 1010 years. Lutetium has 50 isotopes and isomers that are now recognized. Stable lutetium nuclides, which emit pure beta radiation after thermal neutron activation, can be used as catalysts in cracking, alkylation, hydrogenation, and polymerization. Virtually no other commercial uses have been found yet for lutetium. While lutetium, like other rare-earth metals, is thought to have a low toxicity rating, it should be handled with care until more information is available.