Pseudohalide Tectons within the Coordination Sphere of the Uranyl Ion: Experimental and Theoretical Study of C-H···O, C-H···S, and Chalcogenide Noncovalent Interactions.

A series of uranyl thiocyanate and selenocyanate of the type [RN][UO(NCS)] (R = Bu, MeBz, EtBz), [PhP][UO(NCS)(NO)] and [RN][UO(NCSe)] (R = Me, Pr, EtBz) have been prepared and structurally characterized. The resulting noncovalent interactions have been examined and compared to other examples in the literature. The nature of these interactions is determined by the cation so that when the alkyl groups are small, chalcogenide···chalcogenide interactions are present, but this "switches off" when R = Pr and charge assisted U═O···H-C and S(e)···H-C hydrogen bonding remain the dominant interaction. Increasing the size of the chain to Bu results in only S···H-C interactions. The spectroscopic implications of these chalcogenide interactions have been explored in the vibrational and photophysical properties of the series [RN][UO(NCS)] (R = Me, Et, Pr, Bu, MeBz, EtBz), [RN][UO(NCSe)] (R = Me, Pr, EtBz) and [EtN][UO(NCSe)][NCSe]. The data suggest that U═O···H-C interactions are weak and do not perturb the uranyl moiety. While the chalcogenide interactions do not influence the photophysical properties, a coupling of the U═O and δ(NCS) or δ(NCSe) vibrational modes is observed in the 77 K solid state emission spectra. A theoretical examination of representative examples of Se···Se, C-H···Se, and C-H···O═U by molecular electrostatic potentials and NBO and AIM methodologies gives a deeper understanding of these weak interactions. C-H···Se are individually weak but C-H···O═U interactions are even weaker, supporting the idea that the -yl oxo's are weak Lewis bases. An Atoms in Molecules study suggests that the chalcogenide interaction is similar to lone pair···π or fluorine···fluorine interactions. An oxidation of the NCS ligands to form [(UO)(SO)(HO)]·3HO was also noted.