Axially Symmetric U−O−Ln- and U−O−U-Containing Molecules from the Control of Uranyl Reduction with Simple f-Block Halides

Abstract

The reduction of UVI uranyl halides or amides with simple LnII or UIII salts forms highly symmetric, linear, oxo-bridged trinuclear UV/LnIII/UV, LnIII/UIV/LnIII, and UIV/UIV/UIV complexes or linear LnIII/UV polymers depending on the stoichiometry and solvent. The reactions can be tuned to give the products of one- or two-electron uranyl reduction. The reactivity and magnetism of these compounds are discussed in the context of using a series of strongly oxo-coupled homo- and heterometallic poly(f-block) chains to better understand fundamental electronic structure in the f-block.