Abstract and subjects
Despite the discovery of actinide borohydride complexes over 80 years ago, no plutonium borohydride complexes have been structurally validated using single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). Here we describe Pu-2((H3BPBu2BH3)-Bu-t)(6), the first example of a Pu(III) borohydride complex authenticated by XRD and NMR spectroscopy. Theoretical calculations (DFT, EDA, and QTAIM) and experimental comparisons of metal-boron distances suggest that metal-borohydride covalency in M-2((H3BPBu2BH3)-Bu-t)(6) complexes generally decreases in the order M = U(III) > Pu(III) > Ln(III).