Quantifying the Influence of Covalent Metal‐Ligand Bonding on Differing Reactivity of Trivalent Uranium and Lanthanide Complexes. Issue 45 (12th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fetrow, Taylor V.; Zgrabik, Joshua; Bhowmick, Rina; Eckstrom, Francesca D.; Crull, George; Vlaisavljevich, Bess; Daly, Scott R.
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 61:Issue 45(2022)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2022-10-12
• Subjects: Actinide -- Borohydride -- Covalency -- Density Functional Theory -- Lanthanide; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202211145
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

Abstract: Qualitative differences in the reactivity of trivalent lanthanide and actinide complexes have long been attributed to differences in covalent metal‐ligand bonding, but there are few examples where thermodynamic aspects of this relationship have been quantified, especially with U 3+ and in the absence of competing variables. Here we report a series of dimeric phosphinodiboranate complexes with trivalent f ‐metals that show how shorter‐than‐expected U−B distances indicative of increased covalency give rise to measurable differences in solution deoligomerization reactivity when compared to isostructural complexes with similarly sized lanthanides. These results, which are in excellent agreement with supporting DFT and QTAIM calculations, afford rare experimental evidence concerning the measured effect of variations in metal‐ligand covalency on the reactivity of trivalent uranium and lanthanide complexes. Abstract : Here we report experimental and computational studies that quantify the measured effect of variations in metal‐ligand covalency on the reactivity of phosphinodiboranate complexes with trivalent uranium and similarly sized lanthanides.