pyridine; hydrogenchloride in water under high vac.; addn. of concd. HCl to suspended Sc2O3; heating for 1-2 h (til complete dissoln.); dilution (H2O); addn. of pentadione; dropwise addn. of pyridine with swirling over a 15 min period; pptn.; filtration; washed (water); dried in vac. for 12 h;

in toluene byproducts: FeCl2; refluxing (12 h), solvent removal (reduced pressure); extraction (pentane), drying, sublimation; (1)H impurity <0.03percent (MS);

in solid solid-state synthesis from ScCl3 (4.6 mmol) and NaCH3COCHCOCH3 (18.0 mmol) by mechanical activation (vibrating quartz vessel for 2 h at 5 Hz); transferring product into dry box under inert atmosphere;; vac. sublimation (0.1 torr) at 150-200°C bath temp.;;