A diuranium carbide cluster stabilized inside a C80 fullerene cage

Unsupported non-bridged uranium-carbon double bonds have long been sought after in actinide chemistry as fundamental synthetic targets in the study of actinide-ligand multiple bonding. Here we report that, utilizing I h(7)-C80 fullerenes as nanocontainers, a diuranium carbide cluster, U=C=U, has been encapsulated and stabilized in the form of UCU@I h(7)-C80. This endohedral fullerene was prepared utilizing the Krätschmer-Huffman arc discharge method, and was then co-crystallized with nickel(II) octaethylporphyrin (NiII-OEP) to produce UCU@I h(7)-C80·[NiII-OEP] as single crystals. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals a cage-stabilized, carbide-bridged, bent UCU cluster with unexpectedly short uranium-carbon distances (2.03 Å) indicative of covalent U=C double-bond character. The quantum-chemical results suggest that both U atoms in the UCU unit have formal oxidation state of +5. The structural features of UCU@I h(7)-C80 and the covalent nature of the U(f1)=C double bonds were further affirmed through various spectroscopic and theoretical analyses.

Keywords

carbon, diuranium carbide, fullerene, unclassified drug, uranium, actinide, chemical bonding, chemistry, detection method, fullerene, inorganic compound, ligand, oxidation, stabilization, Article, carbon nuclear magnetic resonance, covalent bond, crystal structure, electrochemical analysis, high temperature, low temperature, molecular stability, oxidation, oxidation reduction potential, photoelectron spectroscopy, photoluminescence, quantum chemistry, synthesis, theoretical study, X ray diffraction

URI

https://doi.org/10.34657/3664
https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/5035

Citation

Zhang, X., Li, W., Feng, L., Chen, X., Hansen, A., Grimme, S., et al. (2018). A diuranium carbide cluster stabilized inside a C80 fullerene cage. 9(1). https://doi.org//10.1038/s41467-018-05210-8

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Physik

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CC BY 4.0 Unported

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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