Speciation and coordination chemistry of uranyl(VI)-citrate complexes in aqueous solution

The pH dependence of uranyl(VI) complexation by citric acid was investigated using Raman and attenuated total reflection FTIR spectroscopies and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. pH-dependent changes in the nu(s)(UO(2)) envelope indicate that three major UO(2)(2+)-citrate complexes with progressively increasing U=O bond lengths are present over a range of pH from 2.0 to 9.5. The first species, which is the predominant form of uranyl(VI) from pH 3.0 to 5.0, contains two UO(2)(2+) groups in spectroscopically equivalent coordination environments and corresponds to the [(UO(2))(2)Cit(2)](2)(-) complex known to exist in this pH range. At pH values >6.5, [(UO(2))(2)Cit(2)](2)(-) undergoes an interconversion to form [(UO(2))(3)Cit(3)](3)(-) and (UO(2))(3)Cit(2). ESI-MS studies on solutions of varying uranyl(VI)/citrate ratios, pH, and solution counteranion were successfully used to confirm complex stoichiometries. Uranyl and citrate concentrations investigated ranged from 0.50 to 50 mM.     

Binding of pertechnetate to uranyl(VI) in aqueous solution. A density functional theory molecular dynamics study

According to constrained Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations and thermodynamic integration, the free binding energy between uranyl hydrate and pertechnetate in aqueous solution is significantly lower than that between uranyl and nitrate, namely, by 1.7 kcal mol(-1). This is the first study of the differential binding of these two ligands to uranyl, which can have implications for the separability of uranium and technetium during the reprocessing of nuclear waste.     

Actinium coordination chemistry: A density functional theory study with monodentate and bidentate ligands

In the current study, the coordination chemistry of nine-coordinate Ac(III) complexes with 35 monodentate and bidentate ligands was investigated using density functional theory (DFT) in terms of their geometries, charges, reaction energies, and bonding interactions. The energy decomposition analysis with naturals orbitals for chemical valence (EDA-NOCV) and the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) were employed as analysis methods. Trivalent Ac exhibits the highest affinities toward hard acids (such as charged oxophilic donors, fluoride), so its classification as a hard acid is justified. Natural population analysis quantified the involvement of 5f orbitals on Ac to be about 30% of total valence electron natural configuration indicating that Ac is a member of the actinide series. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to study the pairwise correlations among the bond lengths, ΔG reaction energies, charges on Ac and donor atoms, and data from EDA-NOCV and QTAIM. Strong correlations and anticorrelations were found between Voronoi charges on donor atoms with ΔG, EDA-NOCV interaction energies and QTAIM bond critical point densities.     

Theoretical investigation of the energies and geometries of photoexcited uranyl(VI) ion: a comparison between wave-function theory and density functional theory

In order to assess the accuracy of wave-function and density functional theory (DFT) based methods for excited states of the uranyl(VI) UO2(2+) molecule excitation energies and geometries of states originating from excitation from the sigma(u), sigma(g), pi(u), and pi(g) orbitals to the nonbonding 5f(delta) and 5f(phi) have been calculated with different methods. The investigation included linear-response CCSD (LR-CCSD), multiconfigurational perturbation theory (CASSCFCASPT2), size-extensivity corrected multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) and AQCC, and the DFT based methods time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) with different functionals and the hybrid DFTMRCI method. Excellent agreement between all nonperturbative wave-function based methods was obtained. CASPT2 does not give energies in agreement with the nonperturbative wave-function based methods, and neither does TD-DFT, in particular, for the higher excitations. The CAM-B3LYP functional, which has a corrected asymptotic behavior, improves the accuracy especially in the higher region of the electronic spectrum. The hybrid DFTMRCI method performs better than TD-DFT, again compared to the nonperturbative wave-function based results. However, TD-DFT, with common functionals such as B3LYP, yields acceptable geometries and relaxation energies for all excited states compared to LR-CCSD. The structure of excited states corresponding to excitation out of the highest occupied sigma(u) orbital are symmetric while that arising from excitations out of the pi(u) orbitals have asymmetric structures. The distant oxygen atom acquires a radical character and likely becomes a strong proton acceptor. These electronic states may play an important role in photoinduced proton exchange with a water molecule of the aqueous environment.     

Catalyzing aldehyde hydrosilylation with a molybdenum(VI) complex: a density functional theory study

[MoCl(2)O(2)] catalyzes the hydrosilylation reaction of aldehydes and ketones, as well as the reduction of other related groups, in apparent contrast to its known behavior as an oxidation catalyst. In this work, the mechanism of this reaction is studied by means of density functional theory calculations using the B3LYP functional complemented by experimental data. We found that the most favorable pathway to the first step, the Si--H activation, is a [2+2] addition to the Mo=O bond, in agreement with previous and related work. The stable intermediate that results is a distorted-square-pyramidal hydride complex. In the following step, the aldehyde approaches this species and coordinates weakly through the oxygen atom. Two alternative pathways can be envisaged: the classical reduction, in which a hydrogen atom migrates to the carbon atom to form an alkoxide, which then proceeds to generate the final silyl ether, or a concerted mechanism involving migration of a hydrogen atom to a carbon atom and of a silyl group to an oxygen atom to generate the silyl ether weakly bound to the molybdenum atom. In this Mo(VI) system, the gas-phase free energies of activation for both approaches are very similar, but if solvent effects are taken into account and HSiMe(3) is used as a source of silicon, the classical mechanism is favored. Several unexpected results led us to search for still another route, namely a radical path. The energy involved in this and the classical pathway are similar, which suggests that hydrosilylation of aldehydes and ketones catalyzed by [MoCl(2)O(2)] in acetonitrile may follow a radical pathway, in agreement with experimental results.     

The oxo exchange reaction mechanism of americyl(VI): a density functional theory study

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - This work concerned the oxo exchange of americyl(VI) ([AmO2]2+) in alkaline solution by means of B3LYP calculations. Four possible reaction...     

Molecular electronegativity in density functional theory (VI)

Based on the density functional theory and partitioning the molecular electron density ρ (r) into atomic electronic densities and bond electronic densities, the expressions of the total molecular energy and the “effective electronegativity” of an atom or a bond in a molecule are obtained. The atom-bond electronegativity equalization model is then proposed for the direct calculation of the total molecular energy and the charge distribution of large molecules. Practical calculations show that the atom-bond electronegativity equalization model can reproduce the correspondingab initio values of the total molecular energies and charge distributions for a series of large molecules with a very satisfactory accuracy.     

A density functional theory study of uranium(VI) nitrate monoamide complexes

Density functional theory calculations were performed on uranyl complexed with nitrate and monoamide ligands (L) [UO(2)(NO(3))(2)·2L]. The obtained results show that the complex stability is mainly governed by two factors: (i) the maximization of the polarizability of the coordinating ligand and (ii) the minimization of the steric hindrance effects. Furthermore, the electrostatic interaction between ligands and uranium(vi) was found to be a crucial parameter for the complex stability. These results pave the way to the definition of (quantitative) property/structure relationships for the in silico screening of monoamide ligands with improved extraction efficiency of uranium(vi) in nitrate acidic solution.     

Mechanism of water exchange in aqueous uranyl(VI) ion. A density functional molecular dynamics study

Constrained Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations and thermodynamic integration have been performed for an associative pathway of water exchange between aqueous [UO2(OH2)5]2+ and bulk water. The simulated free energy of activation for this process, 6.7 kcal mol(-1), is significantly lower than that computed for a purely dissociative mechanism, 10.8 kcal mol(-1). Because the transient hexahydrate is indicated to have no chemically significant lifetime, the exchange mechanism can be classified as associative interchange.     

A density functional study of uranyl monocarboxylates

We studied uranium(VI) monocarboxylate complexes by a relativistic density functional method using simple carboxylic acids as ligands, i.e. [UO2(OOCR)]+ (R = H, CH3, CH2CH3). These complexes exist in aqueous solution and, for R = CH3 and CH2CH3, may also be considered as models of uranyl complexated by humic substances. We investigated mono- and bidentate coordination modes. Short-range solvent effects were accounted for explicitly via aqua ligands of the first hydration shell and long-range electrostatic interactions were described via a polarizable continuum model. The calculated results for the uranyl U=O bond, the bond to aqua ligands, and the averaged uranium distances to equatorial oxygen atoms, U-Oeq, agreed quite well with EXAFS-derived interatomic distances. However, the uranyl-carboxylate bond was calculated to be notably shorter than the experimentally determined value. Experimental differences between mono- and bidentate coordination, obtained mainly from crystal structures, were qualitatively reproduced for the U-C distance but not for the average bond length, U-Oeq. We discuss these discrepancies between calculated and experimental results in some detail and suggest changes in the coordination number rather than variations of the coordination geometry as the main source of the experimentally observed variation of the U-Oeq distance.     

Hydrogen bonding versus coordination of adsorbate molecules on Ti-silicalites: a density functional theory study

The present study discusses the results of theoretical calculations obtained at the B3LYP/ 6-31G level on the structural, electronic, and energetic properties of Ti-silicalites. Particularly, the relevance of 5T cluster models, either H- or OH-terminated, in large-scale calculations has been critically considered. It was shown that an open surface structure with one OH group and a closed-bulk structure with no bonded OH group at the Ti site are responsible for the observed UV-vis properties of Ti-silicalite materials. Both water and methanol can preferably interact with Ti-silicalites through the H-bonding mechanism, while ammonia can form either H-bonded or coordination complexes. The calculations support the existence of highly dispersed Ti sites in a tetrahedral environment only in Ti-silicalites because an increase in the coordination number of the Ti site by next-neighbor lattice oxygens is the energetically less favorable process.     

Uranium(VI) bis(imido) disulfonamide and dihalide complexes: Synthesis density functional theory analysis

Novel cis- and trans-bis(imido) uranium disulfonamide derivatives have been prepared from iodide metathesis reactions between two equivalents of K[N(Me)(SO₂Ar’)] (Ar’ = 4-Me-C₆H₄) and U(N^tBu)₂(I)₂(L)_x (L = OPPh₃, x = 2; Me₂bpy, x = 1; Me₂bpy = 4,4’-dimethyl-2,2’-bipyridyl). These bis(amide) derivatives serve as useful precursors for the synthesis of the trans-diphenolate complex U(N^tBu)₂(O-2-^tBuC₆H₄)₂(OPPh₃)₂ (5), cis- and trans-dithiolate complexes U(N^tBu)₂(SPh)₂(L)_x (L = OPPh₃ (6); Me₂bpy (7)), and cis- and trans-dihalide complexes with the general formulas U(N^tBu)₂(X)₂(L)_x (X = Cl, L = OPPh₃ (8), L = Me₂bpy (10); X = Br, L = OPPh₃ (9), L = Me₂bpy (11)). DFT calculations performed on the trans-dihalide series U(N^tBu)₂(X)₂(L)₂ and the UO₂²⁺ analogues UO₂X₂(OPPh₃)₂ suggest that the uranium centers in the [U(N^tBu)₂]²⁺ ions possess more covalent character than analogous UO₂²⁺ derivatives but that the U-X bonds in the U(N^tBu)₂X₂L₂ complexes possess a more ionic nature.     

CHx hydrogenation on Co(0001): a density functional theory study

Hydrogenation is an important process in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. In this work, all the elementary steps of the hydrogenation from C to CH4 are studied on both flat and stepped Co(0001) using density functional theory (DFT). We found that (i) CH3 hydrogenation (CH3+H-->CH4) is the most difficult one among all the elementary reactions on both surfaces, possessing barriers of around 1.0 eV; (ii) the other elementary reactions have the barriers below 0.9 eV on the flat and stepped surfaces; (iii) CH2 is the least stable species among all the CHx(x=1-3) species on both surfaces; and (iv) surface restructuring may have little effect on the CHx(x=0-3) hydrogenation. The barriers of each elementary step on both flat and stepped surfaces are similar and energy profiles are also similar. The reason as to why CHx hydrogenation is not structure-sensitive is also discussed.     

Molecular electronegativity in density functional theory (VI) --Atom-bond electronegativity equalization model

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Contrasting solvent and capping ligand effects directing the photochemistry of uranyl(VI) Schiff base complexes

Photolysis of the uranyl(VI) Schiff base complex UO2(tBu4-salphen)(THF) (1a) with cobaltocene in THF affords [Cp2Co][UO2(tBu4-salphen)(OH)] (2) in high yield while irradiation in toluene yields no reaction. Electronic emission spectra of 1a reveal a large Stokes' shift in toluene similar to that observed in the free ligand, while in THF the structural rearrangement responsible for this shift is blocked. Instead, the ligand-centered excited state is redirected to the uranyl(VI) center by way of energy transfer, thus generating 2 from the intramolecular activation of a coordinated THF molecule.     

NO adsorption on MoS(x) clusters: a density functional theory study

The density functional theory (DFT) method has been used to investigate NO probe molecule adsorption on the stoichiometric (Mo(16)S(32)) and nonstoichiometric (Mo(16)S(34) and Mo(16)S(29)) clusters. The calculated adsorption energies indicate that the stoichiometric cluster has stronger NO affinity than the nonstoichiometric surfaces. It is also found that mononitrosyl adsorption is favored at low NO coverage, while dinitrosyl (germinal) and (NO)(2) dimer adsorption at high NO coverage are possible. Strong repulsive interaction has been found for the adsorbed dinitrosyl and (NO)(2) dimer species. In addition, the computed NO stretching frequencies for the mononitrosyl and dinitrosyl species agree well with the experimental data, while those of the dimer species are much lower than the suggested experimental data.     

Ethanol reforming on Co(0001) surfaces: a density functional theory study

A computational study using density functional theory is carried out to investigate the reaction mechanism of ethanol steam reforming on Co(0001) surfaces. The adsorption properties of the reactant, possible intermediates, and products are carefully examined. The reaction pathway and related transition states are also analyzed. According to our calculations, the reforming mechanism primarily consisting of dehydrogenation steps of ethanol, ethoxy, methanol, methoxy, and formic acid, is feasible on Co(0001) surfaces. It is also found that the reaction of formaldehyde yielding formic acid and hydrogen may not be an elementary reaction. The dehydrogenation of ethoxy possesses the highest barrier and is accordingly identified as the rate-determining step.     

Effect of hydration on coordination properties of uranyl(VI) complexes. A first-principles molecular dynamics study

Results from Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations are reported for [UO2(OH2)5]2+, UO2(NO3)2(OH2)2, and UO2(NO3)2(eta2-tmma) (tmma = tetramethylmalonamide) in the gas phase and in aqueous solution. The distances between uranyl and neutral ligands such as water and tmma are decreased by up to 0.2 angstroms upon hydration, whereas those between uranyl and the nitrate ion are increased by up to 0.08 angstroms. According to pointwise thermodynamic integration involving constrained molecular dynamics simulations, solvation facilitates the transition of the chelating nitrate ligand to a eta1-bonding mode: the free energy of UO2(eta2-NO3)(eta1-NO3)(OH2)2 relative to the bis-chelating minimum drops from 3.9 kcal/mol in vacuo to 1.4 kcal/mol in water. Optimizations in a polarizable continuum (specifically, the conductor-like screening model in conjunction with the zero-order regular approximation and triple-zeta Slater basis sets) can qualitatively reproduce the geometrical changes from explicit hydration.     

On the "yl" bond weakening in uranyl(VI) coordination complexes

The U-O(yl) triple bonds in the UO(2)(2+) aquo ion are known to be weakened by replacing the first shell water with organic or inorganic ligands. Weakening of the U-O(yl) bond may enhance the reactivity of "yl" oxygens and uranyl(VI) cation-cation interactions. Density functional theory calculations as well as previously published vibrational spectroscopic data have been used to study the origin of the U-O(yl) bond weakening in uranyl(VI) coordination complexes. Natural population analyses (NPA) revealed that the electron localization on the O(yl) 2p orbital is a direct measure of the U-O(yl) bond weakening, indicating that the bond weakening is correlated to the weakening of the U-O(yl) covalent bond and not that of the ionic bond. The Mulliken analysis gives poor results for uranium to ligand electron partitioning and is thus unreliable. Further analyses of molecular orbitals near the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) show that both the σ and π donating abilities of the ligands may account for the U-O(yl) bond weakening. The mechanism of the bond weakening varies with coordinating ligand so that each case needs to be examined independently.