Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
The synthesis, structure, and reactivity with CO2 and CS2 of new U(IV) complexes with a redox-active Schiff base are reported. The reaction of UI3 with the heptadentate Schiff base ligand 2,2',2 ''-tris(salicylideneimino)-triethylamine (trensal) did not lead to the formation of a U(III) complex but to the reductive coupling and C-C bond formation between two imino groups of the Schiff base, yielding the U(IV) complex [U-2(bis-trensal)], 1. Further reduction of 1 led to the dinuclear macrocyclic complex [{K(THF)(3)}(2)U-2(cyclotrensal)], 3-THF, through a second C-C bond formation reaction between two additional imino groups. Complexes 1 and 3 are oxidized by AgOTf resulting in the cleavage of the C-C bonds and leading to the formation of the U(IV) complex [U(trensal)]OTf, 2. Complex 1 does not reduce CO2 or CS2 but undergoes insertion of CO2 into one of the U-N bonds. In contrast, the reaction of 3 with 2 equiv of CO2 leads to the reductive disproportionation of CO2 to afford carbonate in 80% yield. In the presence of a large excess of CO2 multiple reactions take place, as supported by the isolation of the crystals of [{K(THF)(3)}U-2(mu-O)(CO2-CO-cyclo-trensal)(U(trensal))], 4. The higher reductive activity toward CO2 of complex 3 compared to previously reported U(IV) complexes of reduced Schiff bases is interpreted in terms of its redox properties.
Jérôme Waser, Raphaël Michel Henri Simonet-Davin, Emmanuelle Madeline Dominique Allouche
Rosario Scopelliti, Marinella Mazzanti, Ivica Zivkovic, Davide Toniolo