title: Molecular structure and electrochemical behavior of uranyl(VI) complex with pentadentate Schiff base ligand: prevention of uranyl(V) cation-cation interaction by fully chelating equatorial coordination sites.
abstract: The U(VI) complex with a pentadentate Schiff base ligand (N,N'-disalicylidenediethylenetriaminate = saldien(2-)) was prepared as a starting material of a potentially stable U(V) complex without any possibility of U(V)O(2)(+)...U(V)O(2)(+) cation-cation interaction and was found in three different crystal phases. Two of them had the same composition of U(VI)O(2)(saldien) x DMSO in orthorhombic and monoclinic systems (DMSO = dimethyl sulfoxide, 1a and 1c, respectively). The DMSO molecule in both 1a and 1c does not show any coordination to U(VI)O(2)(saldien), but it is just present as a solvent in the crystal structures. The other isolated crystals consisted only of U(VI)O(2)(saldien) without incorporation of solvent molecules (1b, orthorhombic). A different conformation of the coordinated saldien(2-) in 1c from those in 1a and 1b was observed. The conformers exchange each other in a solution through a flipping motion of the phenyl rings. The pentagonal equatorial coordination of U(VI)O(2)(saldien) remains unchanged even in strongly Lewis-basic solvents, DMSO and N,N-dimethylformamide. Cyclic voltammetry of U(VI)O(2)(saldien) in DMSO showed a quasireversible redox reaction without any successive reactions. The electron stoichiometry determined by the UV-vis-NIR spectroelectrochemical technique is close to 1, indicating that the reduction product of U(VI)O(2)(saldien) is [U(V)O(2)(saldien)](-), which is stable in DMSO. The standard redox potential of [U(V)O(2)(saldien)](-)/U(VI)O(2)(saldien) in DMSO is -1.584 V vs Fc/Fc(+). This U(V) complex shows the characteristic absorption bands due to f-f transitions in its 5f(1) configuration and charge-transfer from the axial oxygen to U(5+).
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-N1-34, O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takao
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Shinobu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takao
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagasawa
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bernhard
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hennig
authors.forename: Yasuhisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikeda