A Knudsen effusion cell mass spectrometric technique was used to study vapor species over CeCl(3) and SmCl(3). Monomer, dimer, and trimer (Sm(3)Cl(9)) molecules, and LnCl(4-), Ln(2)Cl(7-), Ln(3)Cl(10-) (Ln = Ce, Sm) negative ions, were observed in saturated vapor in the temperature range 958-1227 K. Partial vapor pressures of neutral constituents were determined and the enthalpies of sublimation (Delta(s)H, 298 K, kJ.mol(-1)) to monomers and associated molecules obtained: 328 +/- 6 (CeCl(3)), 306 +/- 6 (SmCl(3)), 453 +/- 16 (Ce(2)Cl(6)), 408 +/- 12 (Sm(2)Cl(6)), and 468 +/- 40 (Sm(3)Cl(9)). Equilibrium constants for various chemical reactions were measured and the enthalpies of reactions obtained using the second and third laws of thermodynamics. The enthalpies of formation (Delta(f)H, 298 K, kJ.mol(-1)) of molecules and ions have been calculated as follows: -730 +/- 6 (CeCl(3)), -722 +/- 6 (SmCl(3)), -1663 +/- 16 (Ce(2)Cl(6)), -1649 +/- 13 (Sm(2)Cl(6)), -2617 +/- 40 (Sm(3)Cl(9)), -1250 +/- 15 (CeCl(4)(-)), -1252 +/- 15 (SmCl(4-)), -2184 +/- 35(Ce(2)Cl(7-)), -2172 +/- 26 (Sm(2)Cl(7-)), -3183 +/- 43 (Ce(3)Cl(10-)), and -3147 +/- 43 (Sm(3)Cl(10-)).