Characterization of berkelium(III) dipicolinate and borate compounds in solution and the solid state

Berkelium is positioned at a crucial location in the actinide series between the inherently stable half-filled 5f(7) configuration of curium and the abrupt transition in chemical behavior created by the onset of a metastable divalent state that starts at californium. However, the mere 320-day half-l...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2016-08, Vol.353 (6302), p.aaf3762-aaf3762
Main Authors: Silver, Mark A, Cary, Samantha K, Johnson, Jason A, Baumbach, Ryan E, Arico, Alexandra A, Luckey, Morgan, Urban, Matthew, Wang, Jamie C, Polinski, Matthew J, Chemey, Alexander, Liu, Guokui, Chen, Kuan-Wen, Van Cleve, Shelley M, Marsh, Matthew L, Eaton, Teresa M, van de Burgt, Lambertus J, Gray, Ashley L, Hobart, David E, Hanson, Kenneth, Maron, Laurent, Gendron, Frédéric, Autschbach, Jochen, Speldrich, Manfred, Kögerler, Paul, Yang, Ping, Braley, Jenifer, Albrecht-Schmitt, Thomas E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Berkelium
Borates
Californium
Chemical elements
Chemical Sciences
Chemistry
Coordination
Coordination compounds
Crystal structure
Electronics
Half life
Isotopes
Literary Devices
Organic Chemistry
Oxidation
Physical properties
Single crystals
Solid state
Spin-orbit interactions
Topology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Berkelium is positioned at a crucial location in the actinide series between the inherently stable half-filled 5f(7) configuration of curium and the abrupt transition in chemical behavior created by the onset of a metastable divalent state that starts at californium. However, the mere 320-day half-life of berkelium's only available isotope, (249)Bk, has hindered in-depth studies of the element's coordination chemistry. Herein, we report the synthesis and detailed solid-state and solution-phase characterization of a berkelium coordination complex, Bk(III)tris(dipicolinate), as well as a chemically distinct Bk(III) borate material for comparison. We demonstrate that berkelium's complexation is analogous to that of californium. However, from a range of spectroscopic techniques and quantum mechanical calculations, it is clear that spin-orbit coupling contributes significantly to berkelium's multiconfigurational ground state.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aaf3762