Gas-phase uranyl, neptunyl, and plutonyl: hydration and oxidation studied by experiment and theory.

The following monopositive actinyl ions were produced by electrospray ionization of aqueous solutions of An(VI)O(2)(ClO(4))(2) (An = U, Np, Pu): U(V)O(2)(+), Np(V)O(2)(+), Pu(V)O(2)(+), U(VI)O(2)(OH)(+), and Pu(VI)O(2)(OH)(+); abundances of the actinyl ions reflect the relative stabilities of the An(VI) and An(V) oxidation states. Gas-phase reactions with water in an ion trap revealed that water addition terminates at AnO(2)(+)·(H(2)O)(4) (An = U, Np, Pu) and AnO(2)(OH)(+)·(H(2)O)(3) (An = U, Pu), each with four equatorial ligands. These terminal hydrates evidently correspond to the maximum inner-sphere water coordination in the gas phase, as substantiated by density functional theory (DFT) computations of the hydrate structures and energetics. Measured hydration rates for the AnO(2)(OH)(+) were substantially faster than for the AnO(2)(+), reflecting additional vibrational degrees of freedom in the hydroxide ions for stabilization of hot adducts. Dioxygen addition resulted in UO(2)(+)(O(2))(H(2)O)(n) (n = 2, 3), whereas O(2) addition was not observed for NpO(2)(+) or PuO(2)(+) hydrates. DFT suggests that two-electron three-centered bonds form between UO(2)(+) and O(2), but not between NpO(2)(+) and O(2). As formation of the UO(2)(+)-O(2) bonds formally corresponds to the oxidation of U(V) to U(VI), the absence of this bonding with NpO(2)(+) can be considered a manifestation of the lower relative stability of Np(VI).