Archetypes for actinide-specific chelating agents

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:5814408

Smith, W L

The complexes of uranium and thorium with monomeric hydroxamic acids can serve as archetypes for an optimized macrochelate designed for tetravalent actinides. The eight-coordinate complexes, Th(i-PrN(O)C(O)R)/sub 4/, where R = tert-butyl or R = neopentyl, have been synthesized and their structures have been determined by x-ray diffraction. The bulky alkyl substituents impart remarkable volatility and hydrocarbon solubility to these complexes, and the steric interactions of these substituents largely determine the structures. When R = tert-butyl, the substituents occupy the corners of a tetrahedron and force the complex into a distorted cubic geometry with crystallographic S/sub 4/ symmetry. Insertion of a methylene group between the carbonyl carbon and the tert-butyl group relaxes the steric requirements, and the coordination polyhedron of the neopentyl derivative is close to the mmmm isomer of the trigonal-faced dodecahedron. Uranium tetrachloride was quantitatively oxidized via an oxygen transfer reaction with two equivalents of N-phenylbenzohydroxamic acid anion (PBHA) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) to form UO/sub 2/ Cl(PBHA)(THF)/sub 2/ and benzanilide. The structure of the uranyl complex has been determined from x-ray diffraction data; the linear uranyl ion is surrounded by a planar pentagonal array composed of two hydroxamate oxygen atoms, a chloride ion and two THF oxygens, such that the chloride ion is opposite the hydroxamate group. That the THF and phenyl rings are twisted from this equatorial plane limits the molecular geometry to that of the C/sub 1/ point group. Some aspects of the chemistry of hydroxamic acids and of their incorporation into molecules that may serve as precursors of tetravalent actinide specific sequestering agents have also been investigated.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Berkeley (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5814408
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
400702* -- Radiochemistry & Nuclear Chemistry-- Properties of Radioactive Materials
ACTINIDE COMPLEXES
AMINES
CHELATING AGENTS
CHEMICAL PREPARATION
COMPLEXES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
HYDROXAMIC ACIDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
SYNTHESIS
THORIUM COMPLEXES
URANIUM COMPLEXES