Planar Tetranuclear Uranium Hydride Cluster Supported by ansa-Bis(cyclopentadienyl) Ligands

Polynuclear metal hydride clusters play important roles in various catalytic processes, with most of the reported polynuclear metal hydride clusters adopting a polyhedral three-dimensional structure. Herein, we report the first example of a planar tetranuclear uranium hydride cluster [(CpCMe2CMe2Cp)U](4)(mu(2)-H)(4)(mu(3)-H)(4) (U4H8). It was synthesized by reacting an ansa-bis(cyclopentadienyl) ligand-supported uranium chloride precursor [(CpCMe2CMe2Cp)U](3)(mu(2)-Cl)(3)(mu(3)-Cl)(2) with NaHBEt3. The presence of hydrides in U4H8 was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and its reactivity with phenol and carbon tetrachloride. DFT calculations also facilitated the determination of the hydrides' positions in U4H8, featuring four bridging mu(2)-H ligands and four face-capping mu(3)-H ligands, with the four U centers arranged in a rhombic geometry. The U4H8 represents not only the first example of planar polynuclear actinide metal hydride cluster but also the uranium hydride cluster with the highest nuclearity reported to date.