Co-ordination Seven of Uranium in Uranyl-acetylacetonate Monohydrate

Abstract

MANY attempts have been made to define the structure of the uranyl group. Nevertheless, the possibility of the uranyl group having a ‘bent’ or a ‘linear’ structure is still questionable. In the particular case of uranyl-acetyl-acetonate monohydrate, infra-red spectra, as well as thermodynamic properties of the solutions, were recently examined by Sacconi et al.^1–3. Those authors have concluded that³ “the attraction between uranium and water molecules should be considered as co-ordinative forces” and that “uranium has a tendency to manifest a co-ordinative number greater than six”. The interpretation of the spectra does not seem to be entirely satisfactory, and the authors affirm that “the problem of the structure of the uranyl radical cannot be considered to be satisfactorily solved”.