18-Electron rule and structure of uranyl sulfate complexes

Characteristics of the Voronoi-Dirichlet polyhedra were used to perform the crystal-chemical analysis of all known sulfate-containing uranyl compounds. The effect of the type of coordination of sulfate ions by U(VI) atoms on the characteristics of S-O and U-O bonds in the crystal structure is considered. The electrondonor properties of sulfate ions were estimated quantitatively on the basis of the 18-electron rule. Some predictive properties of the stereoatomic crystal structure model were demonstrated in relation to tri-and tetrasulfatouranylates.