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Actinides: Organometallic Chemistry

Andrew C. Behrle

Andrew C. Behrle

University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

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Justin R. Walensky

Justin R. Walensky

University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

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Update based on the original article by Carol J. Burns, David L. Clark and Alfred P. Sattelberger, Encyclopedia of Inorganic Chemistry © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Abstract

An actinide organometallic complex is one containing an actinide-carbon σ-bond, an actinide-carbon π-bond, or a combination of both. Actinide organometallic complexes are known for the actinide (An) elements from thorium through californium; the vast majority of the reports on organoactinide compounds, however, deal with thorium and uranium. The latter elements have isotopes, for example, thorium-232 (t 1/2 = 1.41 × 1010 years) and uranium-238 (t 1/2 = 4.468 × 109 years), with extremely long half-lives. Modern organoactinide chemistry is characterized by the existence not only of actinide analogs to many classes of d-transition metal complexes but also of increasingly common reports of compounds and types of reactions unique to the actinide series.

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