Is Octavalent Pu(VIII) Possible? Mapping the Plutonium Oxyfluoride Series PuO(n)F(8-2n) (n = 0-4)

Chemdex: quantification and distributions of valence numbers, oxidation numbers, coordination numbers, electron numbers, and covalent bond classes for the elements

The paper introduces Chemdex, a freely accessible web-based database of over 70 000 compounds characterised by crystallography from across the periodic table. Its software calculates for an atom of interest within each compound classifications including valence number, oxidation number, coordination number, electron number, several covalent bond classifications, and the attached atom set. Users may explore distributions of these classifications by percentages and heat map displays for individual elements or sets of elements, or in several cases for one classification plotted against a second. These properties often display clear periodicity. Based upon distributions across the periodic table of valence numbers, electron numbers, coordination numbers, and attached atom data suggestions are made regarding the placement of hydrogen in the periodic table, membership of group 3 in the periodic table, locations of the early actinoids in the periodic table, and assignments of certain elements as metalloids.

On the highest oxidation states of the actinoids in AnO4 molecules (An = Ac - Cm): A DMRG-CASSCF study

Actinoid tetroxide molecules AnO₄ (An = Ac - Cm) are investigated with the ab initio density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) approach. Natural orbital shapes are used to read out the oxidation state (OS) of the f-elements, and the atomic orbital energies and radii are used to explain the trends. The highest OSs reveal a "volcano"-type variation: For An = Ac - Np, the OSs are equal to the number of available valence electrons, that is, Ac^III , Th^IV , Pa^V , U^VI , and Np^VII . Starting with plutonium as the turning point, the highest OSs in the most stable AnO₄ isomers then decrease as Pu^V , Am^V , and Cm^III , indicating that the 5f-electrons are hard to be fully oxidized off from Pu onward. The variations are related to the actinoid contraction and to the 5f-covalency characteristics. Combined with previous work on OSs, we review their general trends throughout the periodic table, providing fundamental understanding of OS-relevant phenomena.

Is octavalent plutonium really formed during oxidation in alkaline aqueous solutions?

The solution, containing 2 M NaOH and 4.8 mM Pu(VI) mainly in ionic-dispersed phase, becomes dark blue during 2–3 min under ozonation. The absorption spectrum of the solution in the visible range coincides with the well-known absorption spectrum of Pu(VII). The addition in Pu(VII) solution of the aliquot of Pu(VI) solution reduces the absorbance of the solution at any wave length in proportion to dilution. Consequently there is no the influence of Pu(VI) on the absorption spectrum of Pu(VII). Thus, it is become obvious no Pu(VIII) formed in the course of ozonolysis of Pu(VII) alkaline solution. Additionally, crystalline Pu(VII) and Np(VII) compounds were synthesized, their electron absorption spectra were measured and compared with the ones of alkaline solutions. A similar structure of the spectra also indicates a heptavalent oxidation state of neptunium and plutonium in the synthesized crystalline compounds. Thus, the experimental results of this work, along with an analysis of the experimental results of other authors, presented in this work, make it possible to definitely conclude that at present time the highest of the known oxidation states of plutonium oxidation in aqueous solutions is the heptavalent state and all statements about the production of octavalent plutonium in aqueous solutions should be considered as unreasonable.

Molecular oxides of high-valent actinides

The past decade has been very productive in the field of actinide (An) oxides containing high-valent An. Novel gas-phase experimental and an impressive number of theoretical studies have been performed, mostly on pure oxides or oxides extended with other ligands. The review covers the structural properties of molecular An oxides with high (An≥V) oxidation states. The presented compounds include the actinide dioxide cations [AnO2]+ and [AnO2]2+, neutral and ionic AnOx (x = 3–6), oxides with more than one An atom like neutral dimers, trimers and dimers from cation–cation interactions, as well as large U-oxide clusters observed very recently in the gaseous phase.

Beyond Oxides: Nitride as a Ligand in a Neutral IrIX NO3 Molecule Bearing a Transition Metal at High Oxidation State

Theoretical calculations utilizing relativistic ZORA Hamiltonian point to the conceivable existence of an IrNO₃ molecule in C_3v geometry. This minimum is shown to correspond to genuine nonavalent iridium nitride trioxide, which is a neutral analogue of cationic [IrO₄ ]⁺ species detected recently. Despite the presence of nitride anion, the molecule is protected by substantial barriers exceeding 200 kJ mol^-1 against transformations leading, for example, to global minimum (O=)₂ Ir-NO, which contains metal at a lower formal oxidation state.

Unraveling the highest oxidation states of actinides in solid-state compounds with a particular focus on plutonium

The nature and extent of the highest oxidation states (HOSs) in solid-state actinide compounds are still unexplored compared with those of small molecules, and there is burgeoning interest in studying the actinide–ligand bonding nature in the condensed state.

Diversity of Chemical Bonding and Oxidation States in MS4 Molecules of Group 8 Elements

The geometric and electronic ground-state structures of 30 isomers of six MS₄ molecules (M=Group 8 metals Fe, Ru, Os, Hs, Sm, and Pu) have been studied by using quantum-chemical density functional theory and correlated wavefunction approaches. The MS₄ species were compared to analogous MO₄ species recently investigated (W. Huang, W.-H. Xu, W. H. E. Schwarz, J. Li, Inorg. Chem. 2016, 55, 4616). A metal oxidation state (MOS) with a high value of eight appeared in the low-spin singlet T_d geometric species (Os,Hs)S₄ and (Ru,Os,Hs)O₄ , whereas a low MOS of two appeared in the high-spin septet D_2d species Fe(S₂ )₂ and (slightly excited) metastable Fe(O₂ )₂ . The ground states of all other molecules had intermediate MOS values, with S^2- , S₂^2- , S₂^1- (and O^2- , O^1- , O₂^2- , O₂^1- ) ligands bonded by ionic, covalent, and correlative contributions. The known tendencies toward lower MOS on going from oxides to sulfides, from Hs to Os to Ru, and from Pu to Sm, and the specific behavior of Fe, were found to arise from the different atomic orbital energies and radii of the (n-1)p core and (n-1)d and (n-2)f valence shells of the metal atoms in row n of the periodic table. The comparative results of the electronic and geometric structures of the MO₄ and MS₄ species provides insight into the periodicity of oxidation states and bonding.

Pentavalent lanthanide nitride-oxides: NPrO and NPrO- complexes with N≡Pr triple bonds

The neutral molecule NPrO and its anion NPrO^- are produced via co-condensation of laser-ablated praseodymium atoms with nitric oxide in a solid neon matrix. Combined infrared spectroscopy and state-of-the-art quantum chemical calculations confirm that both species are pentavalent praseodymium nitride-oxides with linear structures that contain Pr≡N triple bonds and Pr=O double bonds. Electronic structure studies show that the neutral NPrO molecule features a 4f⁰ electron configuration and a Pr(v) oxidation state similar to that of the isoelectronic PrO₂⁺ ion, while its NPrO^- anion possesses a 4f¹ electron configuration and a Pr(iv) oxidation state. The neutral NPrO molecule is thus a rare lanthanide nitride-oxide species with a Pr(v) oxidation state, which follows the recent identification of the first Pr(v) oxidation state in the PrO₂⁺ and PrO₄ complexes (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2016, 55, 6896). This finding indicates that lanthanide compounds with oxidation states of higher than +IV are richer in chemistry than previously recognized.

Pentavalent Lanthanide Compounds: Formation and Characterization of Praseodymium(V) Oxides

The chemistry of lanthanides (Ln=La-Lu) is dominated by the low-valent +3 or +2 oxidation state because of the chemical inertness of the valence 4f electrons. The highest known oxidation state of the whole lanthanide series is +4 for Ce, Pr, Nd, Tb, and Dy. We report the formation of the lanthanide oxide species PrO4 and PrO2 (+) complexes in the gas phase and in a solid noble-gas matrix. Combined infrared spectroscopic and advanced quantum chemistry studies show that these species have the unprecedented Pr(V) oxidation state, thus demonstrating that the pentavalent state is viable for lanthanide elements in a suitable coordination environment.

On the Highest Oxidation States of Metal Elements in MO4 Molecules (M = Fe, Ru, Os, Hs, Sm, and Pu)

Metal tetraoxygen molecules (MO4, M = Fe, Ru, Os, Hs, Sm, Pu) of all metal atoms M with eight valence electrons are theoretically studied using density functional and correlated wave function approaches. The heavier d-block elements Ru, Os, Hs are confirmed to form stable tetraoxides of Td symmetry in (1)A1 electronic states with empty metal d(0) valence shell and closed-shell O(2-) ligands, while the 3d-, 4f-, and 5f-elements Fe, Sm, and Pu prefer partial occupation of their valence shells and peroxide or superoxide ligands at lower symmetry structures with various spin couplings. The different geometric and electronic structures and chemical bonding types of the six iso-stoichiometric species are explained in terms of atomic orbital energies and orbital radii. The variations found here contribute to our general understanding of the periodic trends of oxidation states across the periodic table.

How Much Can Density Functional Approximations (DFA) Fail? The Extreme Case of the FeO4 Species

A thorough theoretical study of the relative energies of various molecular Fe·4O isomers with different oxidation states of both Fe and O atoms is presented, comparing simple Hartree-Fock through many Kohn-Sham approximations up to extended coupled cluster and DMRG multiconfiguration benchmark methods. The ground state of Fe·4O is a singlet, hexavalent iron(VI) complex (1)C2v-[Fe(VI)O2](2+)(O2)(2-), with isomers of oxidation states Fe(II), Fe(III), Fe(IV), Fe(V), and Fe(VIII) all lying slightly higher within the range of 1 eV. The disputed existence of oxidation state Fe(VIII) is discussed for isolated FeO4 molecules. Density functional theory (DFT) at various DF approximation (DFA) levels of local and gradient approaches, Hartree-Fock exchange and meta hybrids, range dependent, DFT-D and DFT+U models do not perform better for the relative stabilities of the geometric and electronic Fe·4O isomers than within 1-5 eV. The Fe·4O isomeric species are an excellent testing and validation ground for the development of density functional and wave function methods for strongly correlated multireference states, which do not seem to always follow chemical intuition.

Experimental and theoretical identification of the Fe(vii) oxidation state in FeO4−

Two isomers of iron tetraoxygen anion, dioxoiron peroxide [(η²-O₂)FeO₂]⁻ and tetroxide FeO₄⁻ were characterized by experiment and theoretical calculations, with heptavalent Fe(vii) oxidation state identified in the later.

Actinide chemistry using singlet-paired coupled cluster and its combinations with density functionals

Singlet-paired coupled cluster doubles (CCD0) is a simplification of CCD that relinquishes a fraction of dynamic correlation in order to be able to describe static correlation. Combinations of CCD0 with density functionals that recover specifically the dynamic correlation missing in the former have also been developed recently. Here, we assess the accuracy of CCD0 and CCD0+DFT (and variants of these using Brueckner orbitals) as compared to well-established quantum chemical methods for describing ground-state properties of singlet actinide molecules. The f(0) actinyl series (UO2(2+), NpO2(3+), PuO2(4+)), the isoelectronic NUN, and thorium (ThO, ThO(2+)) and nobelium (NoO, NoO2) oxides are studied.