A series of nine metal chloride hydrates (ZnCl2.2H2O, SnCl2.2H2O, CdCl2.2H2O, MnCl2.4H2O, CoCl2.6H2O, SrCl2.6H2O, NiCl2.6H2O, CrCl3.6H2O and CeCl3.7H2O) was investigated as mild and inexpensive Lewis ...