Olation
At low pH, many metal ions exist in aqueous solution as aqua coordination complexes, often with the formula [M(HO)]. As the pH increases, one O-H bond ionizes to give the hydroxide complex, the conjugate base of the parent hexaaqua complex:
The hydroxo complex is poised to undergo olation, which is initiated by displacement of one water by a neighboring complex:
In this product, the hydroxide ligand bridges between the two metals, this bridge is denoted with the symbol μ.
In the resulting 5+ ion, the remaining water and hydroxo ligands are highly acidic and the ionization and condensation processes can continue at still higher pHs. The formation of the oxo-dimer is a process called "oxolation," although sometimes olation and oxolation are not distinguished:
Ultimately one observes the formation of the metal oxide:
Thulium
Thulium is a chemical element with symbol Tm and atomic number 69. It is the thirteenth and third-last element in the lanthanide series. Like the other lanthanides, the most common oxidation state is +3, seen in its oxide, halides and other compounds; because it occurs so late in the series, however, the +2 oxidation state is also stabilized by the nearly full 4f shell that results. In aqueous solution, like compounds of other late lanthanides, soluble thulium compounds form coordination complexes with nine water molecules.