Actinide coordination and organometallic complexes with multidentate polyamido ligands

Amido-based ligand sets have found considerable use in the active and growing area of actinide chemistry, forming highly reactive and unusual actinide-containing complexes as a result of their strong pi-donation capabilities and ease of steric and electronic tuning. This review will focus on the use of multidentate multi-amido based ligands with thorium and uranium centres including diamido, diamido-donor and triamido-amine ligand frameworks. Actinide complexes of related nitrogen-based multidentate ligand sets such as amidinates, beta-diketimides, poly(pyrazolyl)borate and polypyrrolide ligands will also be surveyed. For each ligand the synthesis and reactivity of noteworthy complexes are described and where appropriate, potential applications have also been presented. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.