Continuous Shape Measures Study of the Coordination Spheres of Actinide Complexes - Part 1: Low Coordination Numbers

Structural analyses of a large set of molecular structures of actinide compounds allow us to establish trends for stereochemical preferences, common distortion paths, geometrical constraints imposed by different ligand topologies, and the existence of incipient bonds or of Van der Waals intramolecular interactions on purportedly vacant coordination sites. In this study the relative abundance of coordination numbers in actinide chemistry appears to be on average higher than that among the lanthanides. The detailed continuous shape measures study of normalized coordination polyhedra with coordination numbers between 1 and 6 presented here is based on more than 1,800 solid state and gas phase structural data sets.

Automated summary

The structural analyses of actinide compounds revealed trends in stereochemical preferences, distortion paths, geometrical constraints, and interactions on purportedly vacant coordination sites. The study suggests that actinide chemistry has a higher relative abundance of coordination numbers compared to lanthanides. The detailed shape measures study of coordination polyhedra with coordination numbers between 1 and 6 is based on over 1,800 solid state and gas phase structural data sets.