PNNL

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis and structural characterization of K8[(CO3)3Pu]2(µ-?2-?2-O2)2•12H2O. This is the second plutonium-containing addition to the previously studied alkali metal peroxo-carbonate series M8[(CO3)3A]2(µ-?2-?2-O2)2•xH2O (M = alkali metal; A = Ce or Pu; x = 8, 10, 12 or 18), for which only the M = Na analog has been previously reported when A = Pu. The previously reported crystal structure for Na8[(CO3)3Pu]2(µ-?2-?2-O2)2•12H2O is not isomorphous with its known Ce analogue. However, a new synthetic route to these M8[(CO3)3A]2(µ-?2-?2-O2)2•12H2O complexes, described below, has produced crystals of Na8[(CO3)3Ce]2(µ-?2-?2-O2)2•12H2O that are isomorphous with the previously reported Pu analogue. Via this synthetic method, the M = Na, K, Rb, and Cs salts of M8[(CO3)3Ce]2(µ-?2-?2-O2)2•xH2O have also been synthesized for systematic structural comparison with each other and the available Pu analogues using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The cerium salts in particular demonstrate subtle differences in the peroxide bond lengths which correlate to Raman shifts for the peroxide Op–Op stretch (Op = the oxygen atoms of the peroxide bridges) with each of the cations studied: Na+ (1.492(3) Å /847 cm-1), Rb+ (1.471(1) Å /854 cm-1), Cs+ (1.474(1) Å /859 cm-1), and K+ (1.468(6) Å, 870 cm-1). The trends observed in the M–Op and Op–Op bond distances appear to relate to supermolecular interactions between the neighboring cations.