Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Plutonium (III) and uranium (III) nitrile complexes

Conference ·
OSTI ID:976234
Iodine oxidation of uranium and plutonium metals in tetrahydrofuran and pyridine form AnI{sub 3}(THF){sub 4} and AnI{sub 3}(py){sub 4} (An = Pu, U). These compounds represent convenient entries Into solution An(III) chemistry in organic solvents. Extensions of the actinide metal oxidation methodology in nitrile solvents by I{sub 2}, AgPF{sub 6}, and TIPF{sub 6} are presented here. Treatment of Pu{sup 0} in acetonitrile with iodine yields a putative PuI{sub 3}(NCMe){sub x} intermediate which can be trapped with the tripodal nitrogen donor ligand tpza (tpza = (tris[(2-pyrazinyl)methyl]amine)) and forms the eight-coordinate complex (tpza)PuI{sub 3}(NCMe). Treatment of excess U{sup 0} metal by iodine in acetonitrile afforded a brown crystalline mixed valence complex, [U(NCMe){sub 9}][UI{sub 6}][I], instead of UI{sub 3}(NCMe){sub 4}. The analogous reaction in bezonitrile forms red crystalline UI{sub 4}(NCPh){sub 4}. In contrast, treatment of UI{sub 3}(THF){sub 4} with excess acetonitrile cleanly generates [U(NCMe){sub 9}][I]{sub 3}. Oxidation of Pu{sup 0} by either TI(I) or Ag(I) hexafluorophosphate salts generates a nine-coordinate homoleptic acetonitrile adduct [Pu(NCMe){sub 9}][PF{sub 6}]{sub 3}. Attempts to oxidize U{sub 0} with these salts were unsuccessful.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE
OSTI ID:
976234
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-02-4582
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English