Thomas Albrecht

@teasactinides.bsky.social

University Distinguished Professor at the Colorado School of Mines. Jointly appointed at Idaho National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

This is a heavy hitting americium structure great job brian! @teasactinides.bsky.social pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Insights into the Complexation of Actinides by Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic Acid from Characterization of the Americium(III) Complex

Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) is a frequently used chelator in the nuclear and medical industries, especially for the complexation of trivalent actinides. However, structural data on these complexes in the solid-state have long remained elusive. Herein, a detailed structural analysis of the presented crystal structures of [C(NH2)3]4[Nd(DTPA)]2·nH2O and [C(NH2)3]4[Am(DTPA)]2·nH2O, where [C(NH2)3]+ is guanidinium, details the subtle differences in the Lewis acidity between a lanthanide/actinide pair of similar ionic sizes. Contractions in nitrogen–metal bond lengths between neodymium(III) and americium(III) were observed, while the metal–oxygen bonds remained relatively consistent, highlighting the marginal favorability for actinide complexation over the lanthanides with moderately soft N-donors. Spectroscopic analysis shows significant splitting of many transitions and relatively strong electronic interactions with traditionally low-intensity transitions in the americium complex, as is demonstrated in the 7F0→7F5 transitions. Pressure-induced spectroscopic analysis showed surprisingly little effect on the americium complex, with 5f→5f transitions either not shifting or marginally shifting from 2 to 3 nm at 11.93 ± 0.06 GPa─atypical of a soft, N-donor americium complex under pressure. Large voids occupied by water molecules in between the complexes within the crystal structure may be responsible for the lack of pressure response in the 5f→5f transitions.

pubs.acs.org

You're looking through a massively shielded window into the world's largest inert atmosphere hot cell where a closed fuel cycle was demonstrated for EBR-II. Even cooler is that the thing that looks like a scrub brush in the bottom right is the cathode from the process covered in uranium dendrimers.

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This article was years in the making. Did you think water could coordinate to Sm(II) without being reduced? Well it can. Congratulations Todd! #Chemsky #Bluesci #samarium #rareearths #fblockrocks pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Isolation of Inner-Sphere Aquo Complexes of Samarium(II)

The cis-anti-cis and cis-syn-cis isomers of [Sm(dicyclohexano-18-crown-6)(H2O)2]I2 exhibiting trans water molecules bound to the Sm2+ ion have been isolated and characterized. Sm2+ possesses an electrochemical potential sufficient for water reduction, and thus these complexes add to the recent body of evidence that the oxidation of Sm2+ by water can operate by a mechanism that is not straightforward. These complexes are obtained by the direct addition of stoichiometric amounts of water to solutions of the respective Sm(dicyclohexano-18-crown-6)I2 isomers under an inert atmosphere. The parent complex, Sm(dicyclohexano-18-crown-6)I2, lacking coordinating water molecules can be obtained through rigorous exclusion of water. It was determined that the bulky cyclohexano-substituents deter intramolecular interactions between [Sm(dicyclohexano-18-crown-6)(H2O)2]I2 complexes and slow the oxidization of the metal centers. The extent of the stability of these complexes to the presence of water has been further probed through cyclic voltammetry, where it was found that the redox potential of both isomers of [Sm(dicyclohexano-18-crown-6)(H2O)2]I2 maintains quasi-reversible behavior with a 50,000-fold excess of water to Sm2+ in solution with the cis-syn-cis complex being quasi-reversible at even higher concentrations of water. Solution-phase spectroscopy of these complexes in acetonitrile shows a corresponding hypsochromic shift of the Sm2+ 4f → 5d transition typically observed in the visible region from Sm2+ complexes. The crystalline compounds obtained in this study support solid-state spectroscopic trends observed from other Sm2+ crown-ether complexes containing iodide counterions, wherein the proximity of the iodide ions to the metal center determines whether the complex can exhibit 4f → 4f photoluminescence.

pubs.acs.org