- Zhang, Xingxing;
- Li, Wanlu;
- Feng, Lai;
- Chen, Xin;
- Hansen, Andreas;
- Grimme, Stefan;
- Fortier, Skye;
- Sergentu, Dumitru-Claudiu;
- Duignan, Thomas J;
- Autschbach, Jochen;
- Wang, Shuao;
- Wang, Yaofeng;
- Velkos, Giorgios;
- Popov, Alexey A;
- Aghdassi, Nabi;
- Duhm, Steffen;
- Li, Xiaohong;
- Li, Jun;
- Echegoyen, Luis;
- Schwarz, WH Eugen;
- Chen, Ning
Unsupported non-bridged uranium-carbon double bonds have long been sought after in actinide chemistry as fundamental synthetic targets in the study of actinide-ligand multiple bonding. Here we report that, utilizing Ih(7)-C80 fullerenes as nanocontainers, a diuranium carbide cluster, U=C=U, has been encapsulated and stabilized in the form of UCU@Ih(7)-C80. This endohedral fullerene was prepared utilizing the Krätschmer-Huffman arc discharge method, and was then co-crystallized with nickel(II) octaethylporphyrin (NiII-OEP) to produce UCU@Ih(7)-C80·[NiII-OEP] as single crystals. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals a cage-stabilized, carbide-bridged, bent UCU cluster with unexpectedly short uranium-carbon distances (2.03 Å) indicative of covalent U=C double-bond character. The quantum-chemical results suggest that both U atoms in the UCU unit have formal oxidation state of +5. The structural features of UCU@Ih(7)-C80 and the covalent nature of the U(f1)=C double bonds were further affirmed through various spectroscopic and theoretical analyses.