Uranyl Complex of 1,3-bis(ditertbutylphosphinoxidomethyl)benzene

This short note presents a new molecule isolated and characterized from the reaction of uranyl nitrate with the PCP-type pincer ligand 1,3-bis(ditertbutylphosphinomethyl)benzene in the presence of UV light under ambient conditions. The new dinuclear uranyl-PCP complex was characterized by using FT-IR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. As revealed by the crystal structure, the new complex had oxygen atoms coordinating from the phosphinoxides that were oxidized under ambient conditions. Each uranium atom of this dinuclear complex was found to exhibit pentagonal bipyramidal coordination geometry.