Actinide complexes have been shown to engage in covalent bonding.  Measuring the extent of covalency in An�L bonds remains an important challenge, especially with respect to An/Ln separation.  It has been suggested that An/Ln separation is enhanced when p-accepting ligands are involved.  Hence, the use of Cp*E (E = Al , Ga) has been employed in the synthesis of [(CpSiMe3)3U�Al] and [(CpSiMe3)3U�Ga]  complexes.  The molecular structures of these complexes reveal U�Al and U�Ga bonds of 3.117(3) � and 3.065(1) �, respectively, which are within their covalent radii.  1H-NMR competition experiments reveal that Cp*Ga has a high affinity for uranium over neodynium.  In our efforts to expand on these promising results, we are investigating M�E (M = La, Ce, Nd, U; E = Al, Ga, In, Tl) bonds.  Additionally, we wish to probe the effect of metal oxidation state on metal-metal interactions.

Structural and electronic properties of actinide metal-metal bonds

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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