Synthesis of low-valent uranium fluorides by C–F bond activation

Abstract

The uranium(III) alkyl, Tp*₂UCH₂Ph (Tp* = hydrotris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)borate), activates C–F bonds on a variety of fluorinated substrates. From these reactions two new uranium containing products, Tp*₂UF and Tp*₂UF₂, were isolated and characterized by ¹H, ¹³C, ¹¹B NMR, infrared and electronic absorption spectroscopies, as well as X-ray crystallography. Formation of the uranium(III) or uranium(IV) product was found to be substrate dependent.