The structure of a new type of polyoxo cluster complex that contains thirteen uranium atoms, {U13}, is reported. The complex crystallized from methanol containing tetravalent uranium (UIV) with a basic organic ligand, and was characterized as dichloridooctacosa-μ2-methanolato-octakis(methanolato)octa-μ4-oxido-tridecauranium, [U13(CH3O)35.7Cl2.3O8] or [U13(μ4-Ooxo)8Clx(MeO)38–x] (x = 2.3, MeO = methoxide) (I), by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The characterized {U13} polyoxo cluster complex (I) possesses a single cubic uranium polyhedron at the centre of the cluster core. To the best of our knowledge, this is the very first example of a polyoxo actinide complex that bears a single cubic polyhedron in its structure. The cubic polyhedron in I is well comparable in shape with those in bulk UO2. The U—O bonds in the cubic polyhedron of I are, however, significantly shorter than those not only in bulk UO2 but also in another analogue in the {U38} cluster. This shortening of U—O bonds, together with BVS calculations and the overall negative charge (2−) of I, suggests that the central uranium atom in I, which forms the single cubic coordination polyhedron, is presumably oxidized to the pentavalent state (UV) from the original tetravalent state (UIV). Complex I is, hence, the first example of a polyoxo cluster possessing a single cubic coordination polyhedron of UV.

Key questions for the study of chemical bonding in actinide compounds are the degree of covalency that can be realized in the bonds to different donor atoms and the relative participation of 5f and 6d orbitals. A manifold of theoretical approaches is available to address these questions, but hitherto no comprehensive assessments are available. Here, we present an in-depth analysis of the metal-ligand bond in a series of actinide metal-organic compounds of the [M(salen)2] type (M = Ce, Th, Pa, U, Np, Pu) with the Schiff base N,N'-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine (salen). All compounds except the Pa complex (only included in the calculations) have been synthesized and characterized experimentally. The experimental data are then used as a basis to quantify the covalency of bonds to both N- and O-donor atoms using simple electron-density differences and the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) with interacting quantum atoms. In addition, the orbital origin of any covalent contributions was studied via natural population analysis (NPA). The results clearly show that the bond to the hard, charged O-donor atoms of salen is consistently not only stronger but also more covalent than bonds to the softer N-donor atoms. On the other hand, in a comparison of the metals, Th shows the most ionic bond character even compared to its 4f analogue Ce. A maximum of the covalency is found for Pa or Np by their absolute and relative covalent bond energies, respectively. This trend also correlates with a significant f- and d-orbital occupation for Pa and Np. These results underline that only a comprehensive computational approach is capable of fully characterizing the covalency in actinide complexes.

A series of tetradentate N2O2-type Schiff base complexes with tetravalent 4f- and 5f-block metals, [M(salpn)2] (H2salpn = N,N'-disalicylidene-1,3-diaminopropane; M = Ce, Th, U, Np, and Pu), were prepared to systematically investigate their solid state structure, and their complexation behaviour in solution with the goal to investigate the subtle differences between 4f- and 5f-elements. X-ray diffraction revealed that all investigated metal cations form [M(salpn)2] complexes. All the complexes show the same ligand arrangement with meridional conformation, amongst which only Ce(iv) exhibits unique behaviour upon crystallisation. [Ce(salpn)2] crystallises in two less symmetric systems (P1[combining macron] or P21/n), whilst all the other [M(salpn)2] crystallise in a more symmetric orthorhombic system (Pban). Quantum chemical calculations suggest that the observed structural peculiarity of Ce(iv) stems from the geometrical flexibility due to the more "ionic" nature of bonds to the 4f element. 1H NMR measurements revealed that [M(salpn)2] forms two different species in solution with and without an additional solvent molecule, where the relative distribution of the two species depends mainly on the ionic radius of the metal centre. Again, Ce(iv) behaves differently from the tetravalent actinides with a higher ratio of the solvent-molecule-coordinated species than the ratio expected from its ionic radius. Hence, this study is successful in observing subtle differences between 4f- (i.e. Ce) and 5f-elements (actinides; Th, U, Np, and Pu) both in the solid state and in solution on an analytically distinguishable level, and in relating the observed subtle differences to their electronic structure.

The synthesis of three complex series of the form [AnCl2 (salen)(Pyx)2 ] (H2 salen=N,N'-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine; Pyx=pyridine, 4-methylpyridine, 3,5-dimethylpyridine) with tetravalent early actinides (An=Th, U, Np, Pu) is reported with the goal to elucidate the affinity of these heavy elements for small neutral N-donor molecules. Structure determination by single-crystal XRD and characterization of bulk powders with infrared spectroscopy reveals isostructurality within each respective series and the same complex conformation in all reported structures. Although the trend of interatomic distances for An-Cl and An-N (imine nitrogen of salen or pyridyl nitrogen of Pyx) was found to reflect an ionic behavior, the trend of the An-O distances can only be described with additional covalent interactions for all elements heavier than thorium. All experimental results are supported by quantum chemical calculations, which confirm the mostly ionic character in the An-N and An-Cl bonds, as well as the highest degree of covalency of the An-O bonds. Structurally, the calculations indicate just minor electronic or steric effects of the additional Pyx substituents on the complex properties.

A new diffractometer for single crystal diffraction will

The coordination chemistry of the diimine ligands, 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), with d- and f-block metals has been extensively explored during the last century to yield many technological and industrial applications. Despite this long history, the chemistry of these diimine ligands in heterometallic systems containing multiple metals is poorly understood even to date. This study reports, for the first time, a systematic investigation into the coordination behavior bipy/phen in the heterometallic iron-uranium system covering all the combinations of the possible redox couples (i.e., Fe2+/Fe3+ and U4+/U6+) that are potentially relevant to the actual engineered or environmental systems. In total, 11 new compounds of pure uranium and heterometallic Fe-U complexes were successfully synthesized and structurally characterized. The synthesized compounds show an intriguing structural variety in terms of the nuclearity of the metal center (mono- and dinuclear arrangements for both Fe and U) and the manner of crystal packing based on different intra- and intermolecular interactions (e.g., π···π interactions, hydrogen bonding, etc.). The results also highlight the similarity of the fundamental coordination properties of bipy and phen toward Fe and U, regardless of the oxidation states of the metals, as well as the striking dissimilarity in their chemical behavior upon crystal packing.

A simple synthesis based on UO2 Cl2 ⋅n H2 O and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) resulted in the formation of a new uranyl(VI) complex [UO2 Cl2 (phen)2 ] (1), revealing a unique dodecadeltahedron coordination geometry around the uranium center with significant bending of the robust linear arrangement of the uranyl (O-U-O) unit. Quantum chemical calculations on complex 1 indicated that the weak but distinct interactions between the uranyl oxygens and the adjacent hydrogens of phen molecules play an important role in forming the dodecadeltahedron geometry that fits to the crystal structure of 1, resulting in the bending the uranyl unit. The uranyl oxygens in 1 are anticipated to be activated as compared with those in other linear uranyl(VI) compounds.