The Heat of Formation of the Uranyl Dication: Theoretical Evaluation Based on Relativistic Density Functional Calculations

By using a set of model reactions, we estimated the heat of formation of gaseous UO₂²⁺ from quantum‐chemical reaction enthalpies and experimental heats of formation of reference species. For this purpose, we performed relativistic density functional calculations for the molecules UO₂²⁺, UO₂, UF₆, and UF₅. We used two gradient‐corrected exchange‐correlation functionals (revised Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBEN) and Becke–Perdew (BP)) and we accounted for spin‐orbit interaction in a self‐consistent fashion. Indeed, spin‐orbit interaction notably affects the energies of the model reactions, especially if compounds of U^IV are involved. Our resulting theoretical estimates for Δ_f (UO₂²⁺), 365±10 kcal mol^?1 (PBEN) and 370±12 kcal mol^?1 (BP), are in quantitative agreement with a recent experimental result, 364±15 kcal mol^?1. Agreement between the results of the two different exchange‐correlation functionals PBEN and BP supports the reliability of our approach. The procedure applied offers a general means to derive unknown enthalpies of formation of actinide species based on the available well‐established data for other compounds of the element in question.