15min:
THE SEARCH FOR A DOUBLE-STUFFED URANIUM METALLOCENE.

J. L. SONNENBERG, J. ZHOU, H. B. SCHLEGEL, Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI-48202.

The discovery of \chemZn(I)2( eta5-\chemC5\chemMe5)2 has fundamentally changed the definition of metallocene by introducing dimetallic units to the middle of the classic sandwich complex. Since actinide metallocenes employing COT (COT = [\chemC8\chemH8]2-) rings are well known, it occurred to us that uranium dimers may be stabilized by this new bonding motif. Scalar-relativistic density functional theory calculations have been employed to investigate the isomers of [U( n )2\chem(COT)2]^2 n -4 complexes where n = 2 or 3. The IR and NMR vibrational signatures of these complexes is presented to facilitate experimental detection.