Two-electron reduction of the amidate-supported U(III) mono(arene) complex U(TDA) 3 (2) with KC 8 yields the anionic bis(areneEPR spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and calculations using DFT as well as multireference CASSCF methods all provide strong evidence that the electronic structure of 3 is best represented as a 5f 4 U(II) metal center bound to a monoreduced arene ligand. Reactivity studies show 3 reacts as a U(I) synthon by behaving as a twoelectron reductant toward I 2 to form the dinuclear U(III)−U(III) triiodide species 6) and as a three-electron reductant toward cycloheptatriene (CHT) to form the U(IV) complex [K[2.2.2]cryptand][U(η 7 -C 7 H 7 )(TDA) 2 (THF)] ( 7). The reaction of 3 with cyclooctatetraene (COT) generates a mixture of the U(III) anion [K[2.2.2]cryptand][U(TDA) 4 ] (1-crypt) and U(COT) 2 , while the addition of COT to complex 2 instead yields the dinuclear U(IV)−U(IV) inverse sandwich complex [U(TDA) 3 ] 2 (μ-η 8 :η 3 -C 8 H 8 ) (8). Two-electron reduction of the homoleptic Th(IV) amidate complex Th(TDA) 4 (4) with KC 8 gives the mono(arene) complex [K[2.2.2]cryptand][Th-(TDA) 3 (THF)] (5). The C−C bond lengths and torsion angles in the bound arene of 5 suggest a direduced arene bound to a Th(IV) metal center; this conclusion is supported by DFT calculations.

Rare earth (RE) metals are critical components of electronic materials and permanent magnets. Recycling of consumer materials is a promising new source of rare REs. To incentivize recycling, there is a clear need for the development of simple methods for targeted separations of mixtures of RE metal salts. Metal complexes of a tripodal hydroxylaminato ligand, TriNOx 3-, featured a size-sensitive aperture formed of its three η 2 -(N,O) ligand arms. Exposure of cations in the aperture induced a self-associative equilibrium comprising RE(TriNOx)THF and [RE(TriNOx)] 2 species. Differences in the equilibrium constants K dimer for early and late metals enabled simple separations through leaching. Separations were performed on RE1/RE2 mixtures, where RE1 = La-Sm and RE2 = Gd-Lu, with emphasis on Eu/Y separations for potential applications in the recycling of phosphor waste from compact fluorescent light bulbs. Using the leaching method, separations factors approaching 2,000 were obtained for early-late RE combinations. Following solvent optimization, >95% pure samples of Eu were obtained with a 67% recovery for the technologically relevant Eu/Y separation. (11)(12)(13)(14). Limitations associated with their beneficiation and separations, especially their solvent-, waste-, and energy intensities, have contributed to the concentration of suppliers in the People's Republic of China. Supply risks for these elements have emerged, particularly in the face of current and growing demand in the next 20 y (15, 16). Because the global marketplace for these elements is dominated by a single source (17), prices for primary rare earth (RE) materials are volatile (18). As a result, the US Department of Energy has classified many of these elements as "critical" (19). There is a clear need to find potential new supplies of these elements.Recent life cycle assessments have indicated that recycling of consumer materials is a promising alternative to conventional production processes (20). Despite this assertion, as recently as 2011, less than 1% of RE-containing materials were being recycled (21). These low recycling rates stem from a combination of sporadic collection procedures and lack of efficient separations and preprocessing steps (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27).To contribute to incentivizing the "urban mining" of REcontaining materials, we recently initiated efforts toward new, simplified methods in RE separations (28). Our initial work focused on the separation of neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy), two key components of neomagnets (Nd 2 Fe 14 B). We disclosed the development of the tripodal nitroxide ligand, [((2-t BuNO)C 6 H 4 CH 2 ) 3 N] 3− (TriNOx 3-), which induced a selfassociation equilibrium between monomeric Nd(TriNOx)THF/ dimeric [Nd(TriNOx)] 2 species. The position of this equilibrium was found to be strongly dependent on the size of the RE cation. We showed proof of concept that differences in the self-association equilibrium constants between Nd and Dy could be exploited to achieve 95% pure materials through a simple leachi...

Here we report the first series of in-plane thorium­(IV), uranium­(IV), and neptunium­(IV) expanded porphyrin complexes. These actinide (An) complexes were synthesized using a hexa-aza porphyrin analogue, termed dipyriamethyrin, and the nonaqueous An­(IV) precursors, ThCl4(DME)2, UCl4, and NpCl4(DME)2. The molecular and electronic structures of the ligand, each An­(IV) complex, and a corresponding uranyl­(VI) complex were characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and UV–vis spectroscopies as well as single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Computational analyses of these complexes, coupled to their structural features, provide support for the conclusion that a greater degree of covalency in the ligand–cation orbital interactions arises as the early actinide series is traversed from Th­(IV) to U­(IV) and Np­(IV). The axial ligands in the present An­(IV) complexes proved labile, allowing for the electronic features of these complexes to be further modified.