Double dative bond between divalent carbon(0) and uranium.

Su, Wei; Pan, Sudip; Sun, Xiong; Wang, Shuao; Zhao, Lili; Frenking, Gernot; Zhu, Congqing · Nat Commun · 2018

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Dative bonds between p- and d-block atoms are common but species containing a double dative bond, which donate two-electron pairs to the same acceptor, are far less common. The synthesis of complexes between UCl<sub>4</sub> and carbodiphosphoranes (CDP), which formally possess double dative bonds Cl<sub>4</sub>U⇇CDP, is reported in this paper. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows that the uranium-carbon distances are in the range of bond lengths for uranium-carbon double bonds. A bonding analysis suggests that the molecules are uranium-carbone complexes featuring divalent carbon(0) ligands rather than uranium-carbene species. The complexes represent rare examples with a double dative bond in f-block chemistry. Our study not only introduces the concept of double dative bonds between carbones and f-block elements but also opens an avenue for the construction of other complexes with double dative bonds, thus providing new opportunities for the applications of f-block compounds.