Probing the electronic structures of low oxidation-state uranium fluoride molecules UFx- (x = 2-4)
- Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA
- Department of Chemistry & Key Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronics and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
- Department of Chemistry & Key Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronics and Molecular Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
We report the experimental observation of gaseous UFx- (x = 2-4) anions, which are investigated using photoelectron spectroscopy and relativistic quantum chemistry. Vibrationally resolved photoelectron spectra are obtained for all three species and the electron affinities of UFx (x = 2-4) are measured to be 1.16(3), 1.09(3), and 1.58(3) eV, respectively. Significant multi-electron transitions are observed in the photoelectron spectra of U(5f37s2)F2-, as a result of strong electron correlation effects of the two 7s electrons. The U-F symmetric stretching vibrational modes are resolved for the ground states of all UFx (x = 2-4) neutrals. Theoretical calculations are performed to qualitatively understand the photoelectron spectra. The entire UFx- and UFx (x = 1-6) series are considered theoretically to examine the trends of U-F bonding and the electron affinities as a function of fluorine coordination. The increased U-F bond lengths and decreased bond orders from UF2- to UF4- indicate that the U-F bonding becomes weaker as the oxidation state of U increases from I to III.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1130261
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-101128; JCPSA6; 47951; 40074; KP1504010
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 139, Issue 24; ISSN 0021-9606
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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