Nuclear chemistry articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding and exploiting the redox properties of uranium is of great importance but stabilizing both low and high valent uranium ions in a preserved ligand environment remains challenging. Here, the authors report the synthesis and characterisation of a series of uranium(II–VI) complexes supported by a tripodal tris(amido)arene ligand.

    • Chong Deng
    • , Jiefeng Liang
    •  & Wenliang Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the distinct electronic properties of the wide variety Cm3+ compounds that have been prepared to date, no singlecrystal structural characterization of a complex containing a Cm−C bond has been reported. Here the authors report the synthesis of a Cm complex bearing trimethylsilylcyclopentadienyl and 4,4’-bipyridine ligands with a low energy emission and identify the 4,4’-bipyridine ligand as the primary quenching agent.

    • Brian N. Long
    • , María J. Beltrán-Leíva
    •  & Thomas E. Albrecht-Schönzart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Separation of actinides from lanthanides is very important for the safe management of nuclear waste, however still challenging due to the chemical complexity of the f-elements. Here, authors report an efficient strategy with graphene oxide membranes for ion sieving of high valent actinyl ions and spherical lanthanide ions.

    • Zhipeng Wang
    • , Liqin Huang
    •  & Chao Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diatomic actinide molecules are ideal models for studying rare multiple-bond motifs. Here, the authors report host-guest structures of metastable charged U≡N diatoms confined in fullerene cages and stabilized by coordinative electron transfer.

    • Qingyu Meng
    • , Laura Abella
    •  & Ning Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The coordination environment has a great impact on the electronic structure, bonding and properties of metal complexes. Here the authors report a dinuclear organometallic americium complex that displays unexpectedly ionic Am−N bonding, but enhanced covalency in the Am−C bonds compared to its neodymium analogue.

    • Brian N. Long
    • , María J. Beltrán-Leiva
    •  & Thomas E. Albrecht-Schönzart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying how the ligand design influences the bonding of f-block complexes is crucial to control their properties. Here, the authors report the preparation of Bk(III) and Ce(III) complexes featuring a terpyridyl ligand; structural, spectroscopic, electrochemical, and theoretical analysis reveal that the ligand induces unusual bonding by creating a plane of enhanced bond covalency.

    • Alyssa N. Gaiser
    • , Cristian Celis-Barros
    •  & Thomas E. Albrecht-Schönzart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Traditional electrorefining process is limited by deposition potential of the metal itself. Here, the authors explore an in-situ anodic precipitation process based on different solubility of target metal chlorides that can efficiently separate components of aluminum alloys.

    • Yu-Ke Zhong
    • , Ya-Lan Liu
    •  & Wei-Qun Shi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In vivo decorporation of U(VI) from bones is an unsolved challenge because of the formation of stable uranium phosphate complexes. Here, the authors develop a hydroxypyridonone-based ligand with strong uranium complexation and low cytotoxicity. They find this ligand effectively removes uranium from kidney and bones in mice, and is suitable for oral administration.

    • Xiaomei Wang
    • , Xing Dai
    •  & Shuao Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Radionuclides are of great importance for fields such as nuclear medicine and waste recycling, but their efficient purification remains a challenge. Here the authors show that an octadentate hydroxypyridinone chelator enables efficient and robust separation processes for isotopes of Ac, Pu, and Bk.

    • Gauthier J.-P. Deblonde
    • , Abel Ricano
    •  & Rebecca J. Abergel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In actinide chemistry, a longstanding bonding model describes metal-ligand binding using 6d-orbitals, with the 5f-orbitals remaining non-bonding. Here the authors explore the inverse-trans-influence — a case where the model breaks down — finding that the f-orbitals play a crucial role in dictating a trans-ligand-directed geometry.

    • Erli Lu
    • , Saira Sajjad
    •  & Stephen T. Liddle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The electrochemical behaviour of redox-active metal cations foremost depends on the metal centre’s inner-sphere coordination environment. Here the authors show that electrolyte cations unexpectedly stabilize higher-oxidation-state neptunium dioxocations in water through extended-coordination sphere interactions.

    • Shanna L. Estes
    • , Baofu Qiao
    •  & Geng Bang Jin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While metal–carbon double bonds are common in transition metal chemistry and catalysis, unsupported uranium–carbon double bonds remain highly challenging to prepare. Here, the authors stabilize and characterize a U=C=U cluster containing unusually short, unsupported double bonds inside an Ih(7)-C80 fullerene cage.

    • Xingxing Zhang
    • , Wanlu Li
    •  & Ning Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Actinium-225 is a promising isotope for α-therapy but progress in developing its chemistry is hindered by its high radioactivity and short supply. Here, the authors characterize actinium coordination in HCl solutions using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and molecular dynamics density functional theory.

    • Maryline G. Ferrier
    • , Enrique R. Batista
    •  & Justin J. Wilson

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