Tsoureas, Nikolaos, Maron, Laurent, Kilpatrick, Alexander F R, Layfield, Richard A and Cloke, F Geoffrey N (2020) Ethene activation and catalytic hydrogenation by a low-valent uranium pentalene complex. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 142 (1). pp. 89-92. ISSN 0002-7863

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Abstract

The reaction of the uranium(III) complex [U(η8-Pn††)(η5-Cp*)] (1) (Pn†† = C8H4(1,4-SiiPr3)2, Cp* = C5Me5) with ethene at atmospheric pressure produces the ethene-bridged diuranium complex [{(η8-Pn††)(η5-Cp*)U}2(μ-η2:η2-C2H4)] (2). A computational analysis of 2 revealed that coordination of ethene to uranium reduces the carbon–carbon bond order from 2 to a value consistent with a single bond, with a concomitant change in the formal uranium oxidation state from +3 in 1 to +4 in 2. Furthermore, the uranium–ethene bonding in 2 is of the δ type, with the dominant uranium contribution being from f–d hybrid orbitals. Complex 2 reacts with hydrogen to produce ethane and reform 1, leading to the discovery that complex 1 also catalyzes the hydrogenation of ethene under ambient conditions.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Organometallic, uranium, catalysis
Schools and Departments:	School of Life Sciences > Chemistry
Subjects:	Q Science > QD Chemistry > QD0146 Inorganic chemistry
Depositing User:	Geoff Cloke
Date Deposited:	02 Jan 2020 09:51
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2020 02:00
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/88991

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