The Exceptional Diversity of Homoleptic Uranium-Methyl Complexes.

Homoleptic σ-bonded uranium-alkyl complexes have been a synthetic target since the Manhattan Project. The current study describes the synthesis and characterization of several unprecedented uranium-methyl complexes. Amongst these complexes, the first example of a homoleptic uranium-alkyl dimer, [Li(THF) ] [U (CH ) ], as well as a seven-coordinate uranium-methyl monomer, {Li(OEt )Li(OEt ) UMe Li} were both crystallographically identified. The diversity of complexes reported herein provides critical insight into the structural diversity, electronic structure and bonding in uranium-alkyl chemistry.