The Exceptional Diversity Of Homoleptic Uranium-Methyl Complexes

Homoleptic sigma -bonded uranium-alkyl complexes have been a synthetic target since the Manhattan Project. The current study describes the synthesis and characterization of several unprecedented uranium-methyl complexes. Amongst these complexes, the first example of a homoleptic uranium-alkyl dimer, [Li(THF)(4)](2)[U-2(CH3)(10)], as well as a seven-coordinate uranium-methyl monomer, {Li(OEt2)Li(OEt2)(2)UMe7Li}(n) were both crystallographically identified. The diversity of complexes reported herein provides critical insight into the structural diversity, electronic structure and bonding in uranium-alkyl chemistry.