AER/I Chemistry Seminar-Prelim Defense
About the event
Speaker: Vincent Groner
Group: Prof. Boncella
Title: Stabilizing Low-Valent Organometallic Uranium Complexes Using Bulky, Aromatic Terphenyl Amido Ligands
Abstract: The study of low-valent uranium complexes (UIII and UII) is one subset of uranium chemistry which is highly dependent on organic ligands to stabilize electron-rich uranium metal centers. In particular, arene ligands have been demonstrated to stabilize low-valent uranium complexes through -backbonding by the uranium 5f-orbitals, but these interactions are complex and not understood completely. The terphenyl amido ligand TrippTerNH (TrippTerNH = 2,6-(2,4,6-(iPr)3C¬H2)C6H3NH) has been used to stabilize low-valent actinides, notably the first neutral UII complex, through actinide-arene interactions. Synthesizing similar complexes which take advantage of uranium-arene interactions will further the understanding of 5f-orbital-ligand interactions and the role they play in this chemistry. This will be achieved by synthesizing a variety of ligands designed to probe uranium-arene interactions. Shifting or removing steric bulk on the terphenyl amido ligand will reveal the limits of arene-mediated stabilization of UII. Additionally, the electronic structure of the terphenyl ring will be altered to observe differences in uranium-arene interactions. Low-valent uranium complexes will also be synthesized utilizing both the terphenyl amido ligand and derivatized cyclopentadienyl ligands to investigate systems with neutral and anionic aromatic ligands. The novel complexes that will be synthesized utilizing this ligand system will further the fundamental understanding of uranium 5f-bonding and actinide 5f-orbital interactions.