title: Noble gas-actinide compounds: complexation of the CUO molecule by Ar, Kr, and Xe atoms in noble gas matrices.
abstract: The CUO molecule, formed from the reaction of laser-ablated U atoms with CO in a noble gas, exhibits very different stretching frequencies in a solid argon matrix [804.3 and 852.5 wave numbers (cm(-1))] than in a solid neon matrix (872.2 and 1047.3 cm(-1)). Related experiments in a matrix consisting of 1% argon in neon suggest that the argon atoms are interacting directly with the CUO molecule. Relativistic density functional calculations predict that CUO can bind directly to one argon atom (U-Ar = 3.16 angstroms; binding energy = 3.2 kilocalories per mole), accompanied by a change in the ground state from a singlet to a triplet. Our experimental and theoretical results also suggest that multiple argon atoms can bind to a single CUO molecule.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Bruce E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Bursten
authors.forename: Binyong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lester
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Andrews