A Spectroscopic and Computational Evaluation of Uranyl Oxo Engagement with Transition Metal Cations.

We report the synthesis and characterization of five novel Cd/UO heterometallic complexes that feature Cd-oxo distances ranging from 78 to 171% of the sum of the van der Waals radii for these atoms. This work marks an extension of our previously reported Pb/UO and Ag/UO complexes, yet with much more pronounced structural and spectroscopic effects resulting from Cd-oxo interactions. We observe a major shift in the U═O symmetric stretch and significant uranyl bond length asymmetry.