Gas-Phase Methane Activation by the Ac+−Pu+ Ions: Theoretical Insights into the Role of 5f Electrons/Orbitals in Early Actinide Chemistry

Can water continuously oxidize the PuO molecule? Mechanisms, topological analysis and rate constant calculations

A detailed description of the PuO continuously oxidized by water in the gas-phase.

Gas-phase COS activation by U+: Reaction mechanisms and bonding analysis

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to investigate the gas phase reaction of U[Formula: see text] with COS to produce US[Formula: see text]CO and UO[Formula: see text]CS. It is shown that the two reactions are exothermic and the formation of UO[Formula: see text]CS has the lower energy barrier which agrees with the experimental result that UO[Formula: see text] is the main product. The reaction mechanisms and the potential energy profiles (CPEPs) considering different spin states were presented in detail. Diverse analyses including atoms in molecules, natural bond orbital were used to study the bonding properties of all the involved species.

Chemistry with methane: concepts rather than recipes

Four seemingly simple transformations related to the chemistry of methane will be addressed from mechanistic and conceptual points of view: 1) metal-mediated dehydrogenation to form metal carbene complexes, 2) the hydrogen-atom abstraction step in the oxidative dimerization of methane, 3) the mechanisms of the CH(4)→CH(3)OH conversion, and 4) the initial bond scission (C-H vs. O-H) as well as the rate-limiting step in the selective CH(3)OH→CH(2)O oxidation. State-of-the-art gas-phase experiments, in conjunction with electronic-structure calculations, permit identification of the elementary reactions at a molecular level and thus allow us to unravel detailed mechanistic aspects. Where appropriate, these results are compared with findings from related studies in solution or on surfaces.