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International audience; Protactinium (Z = 91) is a very rare actinide with peculiar physico-chemical properties. Indeed, although one may naively think that it behaves similarly to either thorium or uranium by its position in the periodic table, it may in fact follow its own rules. Because of the quite small energy gap between its valence shells (in particular the 5f and 6d ones) and also the strong influence of relativistic effects on its properties, it is actually a challenging element for theoretical chemists. In this article, we combine experimental information, chemical arguments and standard first-principle calculations, complemented by implicit and explicit solvation, to revisit the stepwise complexation of aqueous protactinium(V) with sulfate and oxalate dianionic ligands (SO42- and C2O42-, respectively). From a methodological viewpoint, we notably conclude that it is necessary to at least saturate the coordination sphere of protactinium(V) to reach converged equilibrium constant values. Furthermore, in the case of single complexations (i.e. with one sulfate or oxalate ligand bound in the bidentate fashion), we show that it is necessary to maintain the coordination of one hydroxyl group, thought of in the [PaO(OH)]^3+ precursor, to obtain coherent complexation constants. Therefore, we predict that this hydroxyl group is maintained in the formation of 1:1 complexes while we confirm that it is withdrawn when coordinating three sulfate or oxalate ligands. Finally, we stress that this work is a first step toward the future use of theoretical predictions to elucidate the enigmatic chemistry of protactinium in solution.

International audience; Bent uranyl complexes can be formed with chloride ligands and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligands bound to the equatorial and axial planes of the uranyl(VI) moiety, as revealed by the crystal structures, IR and Raman spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. With the goal of probing the influence of chloride and phenanthroline coordination enforcing the bending on the absorption and emission spectra of this complex, spin-orbit time-dependent density functional theory calculations for the bare uranyl complexes as well as for the free UO2Cl2 subunit and the UO2Cl2(phen)2 ligand were performed. The emission spectra has been fully simulated by ab initio methods and compared to experimental photoluminescence spectra, recorded for the first time for UO2Cl2(phen)2. Notably, the bending of uranyl in UO2Cl2 and UO2Cl2(phen)2 triggers excitations of the uranyl bending mode, yielding a denser luminescence spectrum.

Bent uranyl complexes can be formed with chloride ligands and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligands bound to the equatorial and axial planes of the uranyl(VI) moiety, as revealed by the crystal structures, IR and Raman spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. With the goal of probing the influence of chloride and phenanthroline coordination enforcing the bending on the absorption and emission spectra of this complex, spin-orbit time-dependent density functional theory calculations for the bare uranyl complexes as well as for the free UO2Cl2 subunit and the UO2Cl2(phen)2 ligand we performed. The emission spectra has been fully simulated by ab initio methods and compared to experimental photoluminescence spectra, recorded for the first time for UO2Cl2(phen)2. Notably, the bending of uranyl in UO2Cl2 and UO2Cl2(phen)2 triggers vibronically induced excitations of the uranyl bending mode, yielding a denser spectrum.

International audience; Reaction of [(XA2)U(CH2SiMe3)2] (1; XA2 = 4,5-bis(2,6-diisopropylanilido)-2,7-di-tert-butyl-9,9- dimethylxanthene) with 1 equivalent of [Ph3C][B(C6F5)4] in arene solvents afforded the arene-coordinated uranium alkyl cations, [(XA2)U(CH2SiMe3)(hn-arene)][B(C6F5)4] {arene = benzene (2), toluene (3), bromobenzene (4) and fluorobenzene (5)}. Compounds 2, 3, and 5 were crystallographically characterized, and in all cases the arene is π-coordinated. Solution NMR studies of 2-5 suggest that the binding preferences of the [(XA2)U(CH2SiMe3)]+ cation follow the order: toluene ≈ benzene > bromobenzene > fluorobenzene. Compounds 2-4 generated in C6H5R (R = H, Me or Br, respectively) showed no polymerization activity under 1 atm of ethylene. By contrast, 5 and 5-Th (the thorium analogue of 5) in fluorobenzene at 20 and 70 °C achieved ethylene polymerization activities between 16 800 and 139 200 g mol-1 h-1 atm-1, highlighting the extent to which common arene solvents such as toluene can suppress ethylene polymerization activity in sterically open f-element complexes. However, activation of [(XA2) An(CH2SiMe3)2] {M = U (1) or Th (1-Th)} with [Ph3C][B(C6F5)4] in n-alkane solvents did not afford an active polymerization catalyst due to catalyst decomposition, illustrating the critical role of PhX (X = H, Me, Br or F) coordination for alkyl cation stabilization. Gas phase DFT calculations, including fragment interaction calculations with energy decomposition and ETS-NOCV analysis, were carried out on the cationic portion of 2'-Th, 2', 3' and 5' (analogues of 2-Th, 2, 3 and 5 with hydrogen atoms in place of ligand backbone methyl and tert-butyl groups), providing insight into the nature of actinide–arene bonding, which decreases in strength in the order 2'-Th > 2' ≈ 3' > 5'.

International audience; The synthesis and structures of the homoleptic hexanitrato complexes of Am(III) and Cm(III), [(CH3)4N]2KAn(NO3)6 are reported. These compounds form a double perovskite structure type, A2B′BX6, crystallizing in the cubic space group Fm3m. Their electronic properties, as calculated using the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules, are reported and compared to their lanthanide homologues Eu(III) and Gd(III).

Polonium (

Frozen density embedding (FDE) represents an embedding scheme in which environmental effects are included from first-principles calculations by considering the surrounding system explicitly by means of its electron density. In the present paper, we extend the full four-component relativistic Dirac-Kohn-Sham (DKS) method, as implemented in the BERTHA code, to include environmental and confinement effects with the FDE scheme (DKS-in-DFT FDE). The implementation, based on the auxiliary density fitting techniques, has been enormously facilitated by BERTHA's python API (PyBERTHA), which facilitates the interoperability with other FDE implementations available through the PyADF framework. The accuracy and numerical stability of this new implementation, also using different auxiliary fitting basis sets, has been demonstrated on the simple NH

International audience; Seven novel bismuth(III)-halide phases, Bi2Cl6(terpy)2·0.5(H2O) (1), Bi2Cl4(terpy)2(k2-TC)2(2) (TC = 2-thiophene monocarboxylate), BiCl(terpy)(k2-TC)2 (3A-Cl), BiBr(terpy)(k2-TC)2 (3A-Br), BiCl(terpy)(k2-TC)2 (3B-Cl), [BiCl(terpy)(k2-TC)2][Bi(terpy)(k2-TC)3]·0.55(TCA) (4), [BiBr3(terpy)(MeOH)] (5), and [BiBr2(terpy)(k2-TC)][BiBr1.16(terpy)(k2-TC)1.84] (6), were prepared under mild synthetic conditions from methanolic/aqueous solutions containing BiX3 (X = Cl, Br) and 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine (terpy) and/or 2-thiophene monocarboxylic acid (TCA). A heterometallic series, 3A-Bi1–xEuxCl, with the general formula Bi1–xEuxCl(terpy)(k2-TC)2 (x = 0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05) was also prepared through trace Eu doping of the 3A-Cl phase. The structures were determined through single-crystal X-ray diffraction and are built from a range of molecular units including monomeric and dimeric complexes. The solid-state photoluminescent properties of the compounds were examined through steady-state and time-resolved methods. While the homometallic phases exhibited broad green to yellow emission, the heterometallic phases displayed yellow, orange, and red emission that can be attributed to the simultaneous ligand/Bi-halide and Eu centered emissions. Photoluminescent color tuning was achieved by controlling the relative intensities of these concurrent emissions through compositional modifications including the Eu doping percentage. Notably, all emissive homo- and heterometallic phases exhibited rare visible excitation pathways that based on theoretical quantum mechanical calculations are attributed to halide-metal to ligand charge transfer (XMLCT). Through a combined experimental and computational approach, fundamental insight into the structure–property relationships within these Bi halide organic hybrid materials is provided.

Recently, Koenig et al. [1] measured both gas phase iodine species and particulate iodine (iodate and iodide) in the lower stratosphere indicating that tropospheric multiphase redox reactions prevent poorly soluble gaseous iodine species from removal by wet deposition leading to injections of inorganic iodine into the lower stratosphere. This may influence stratospheric ozone depletion both indirectly through activation of iodide (I-) to molecular halogens and directly through the aqueous phase reaction of ozone (O3) with iodide. Also in the troposphere, measurements indicate higher than expected iodide to iodate ratios in the aerosol phase [2], suggesting the reaction of O3 with I- to be part of iodine cycling throughout the troposphere. The reaction of O3 with I- in the aqueous phase, leading to IO- and to I2 through the secondary reaction of IO- with I-, is rather well established and one of the main iodine source from oceans [3]. However, for the reaction in the aerosol phase, uncertainties exist with respect to the temperature dependence, effects of pH and ionic strength, and also the extent of a surface reaction pathway [4,5]. In addition, Sakamoto et al. [4] have suggested that from this reaction IO(g) may be released. The objectives of this work has been to determine the temperature dependence of the oxidation of I- by O3 as well as to have a better understanding of the parameters that lead to IO radical and I2 formation. We used a trough reactor [5] coupled to Cavity Enhanced – Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (CE-DOAS) [6] to study the reactivity in dilute aqueous solution (273 – 291 K) and in concentrated ammonium sulfate solutions (255 – 291 K). Measurements at varying O3 mixing ratios indicate a substantial surface reaction component, especially at lower temperature. The IO/I2 ratio is in the range of 10-3 – 10-2. IO formation seems to result predominantly from a surface process. The experiments are also compared with results from theory.References[1] T. K. Koenig et al., PNAS, 117, 4 (2020).[2] Baker, A. R., and Yodle, C.: Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13067-13076, 2021.[3] L. J. Carpenter et al., Nat. Geosci., 6 (2013).[4] Y. Sakamoto et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 113, 27 (2009).[5] C. Moreno et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 22 (2020)[6] L. Artiglia et al., Nat. Commun., 8 (2017).[7] M. Wang et al., Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, (2021).

Recently, Koenig et al. [1] measured both gas phase iodine species and particulate iodine (iodate and iodide) in the lower stratosphere indicating that tropospheric multiphase redox reactions prevent poorly soluble gaseous iodine species from removal by wet deposition leading to injections of inorganic iodine into the lower stratosphere. This may influence stratospheric ozone depletion both indirectly through activation of iodide to molecular halogens and directly through the aqueous phase reaction of ozone (O3) with iodide [2]. The product of this reaction, IO-, is reacting with I- to I2(g) under most circumstances. Sakamoto et al. [3] have suggested that in addition IO(g) may be formed. The primary reaction of iodide with O3 depends on pH. Solute strength effects and the extent of a surface reaction have not been sufficiently established [3,4].An hybrid ONIOM QM/MM method [5] has been used to investigate the reactivity of ozone on a iodide-containing slab of water. The reaction pathway has been determined both at the interface and in the bulk aqueous phase. Both singlet and triplet state surfaces are investigated as the triplet state can be reached through photoexcitation of ozone or by spin state change along the reaction coordinate. These theoretical calculations provide insight into the uptake process at the molecular scale. Comparisons with experimental measurements performed using a trough reactor [6] coupled to Cavity Enhanced – Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (CE-DOAS) [7,8] are also discussed. References[1] T. K. Koenig et al., PNAS, 117, 4 (2020). [2] L. J. Carpenter et al., Nat. Geosci., 6 (2013).[3] Y. Sakamoto et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 113, 27 (2009).[4] C. Moreno et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 22 (2020)[5] L. W. Chung et al., Chem. Rev., 115, 12 (2015)[6] L. Artiglia et al., Nat. Commun., 8 (2017)[7] M. Wang et al., Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, (2021).[8] R. Thalman and R. Volkamer, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 3, (2010).

The luminescence spectra of triscarbonatouranyl complexes were determined by experimental and theoretical methods. Time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy was used to monitor spectra of uranyl and bicarbonate solutions at 0.1 mol kgw-1 ionic strength and pH ca. 8. The concentrations of Mg2+ and Ca2+ in the samples were chosen in order to vary the proportions of the alkaline earth ternary uranyl complexes MgUO2(CO3)32-, CaUO2(CO3)22-, and Ca2UO2(CO3)3. The luminescence spectrum of each complex was determined by decomposition in order to compare it with the simulated spectra of model structures NamMnUO2(CO3)3(4-m-2n)- (M = Mg, Ca; m, n = 0–2) obtained by quantum chemical methods. The density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent (TD)-DFT methods were used with the PBE0 functional to optimize the structures in the ground and excited states, respectively, including relativistic effects at the spin-free level, and water solvent effects using a continuum polarizable conductor model. The changes in the structural parameters were quantified with respect to the nature and the amount of alkaline earth counterions to explain the luminescence spectra behavior. The first low-lying excited state was successfully computed, together with the vibrational harmonic frequencies. The DFT calculations confirmed that uranyl luminescence originates from electronic transitions from one of the four nonbonding 5f orbitals of uranium to an orbital that has a uranyl-σ (5f, 6d) character mixed with the 2p atomic orbitals of the carbonate oxygens. Additional single-point calculations using the more accurate TD-DFT/CAM-B3LYP allow one to determine the position of the luminescence “hot band” for each structure in the range 467-476 nm and compared fairly well with experimental reports at around 465 nm. The complete luminescence spectra were built from theoretical results with the corresponding assignment of the electronic transitions and vibronic modes involved, mainly the U–Oax stretching mode. The resulting calculated spectra showed a very good agreement with experimental band positions and band spacing attributed to MgUO2(CO3)32-, CaUO2(CO3)22-, and Ca2UO2(CO3)2. The evolution of luminescence intensities with the number of alkaline earth metal ions in the structure was also correctly reproduced.

International audience; The luminescence properties of the [UO2Cl4]2- complex in an organic phase, especially the influence of large organic counter cations, have been studied by time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) and ab initio modeling. The experimental spectrum was assigned by vibronic Franck-Condon calculations on quantum chemical methods on the basis of a combination of relativistic density functional approaches. The shape of the luminescence spectrum of the uranyl tetrachloride complex is determined by symmetrical vibrations and geometrical change upon emission. The possible change in the luminescence properties depending on the first and second uranyl coordination spheres was predicted theoretically for the [UO2Br4]2- and [R4N]2[UO2Cl4] ([R4N] = [Bu4N], [A336]) systems. The computations reveal that for U(VI), the second coordination sphere has little influence on the spectrum shape, making speciation of uranyl complexes with identical first coordination-sphere ligands tedious to discriminate. The computed structural changes agreed well with experimental trends; theoretical spectra and peak attributions are in a good accordance with TRLFS and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) data respectively.

In the context of nuclear fuel recycling and environmental issues, the understanding of the properties of radio-elements with various approaches remains a challenge regarding their dangerousness. Moreover, experimentally, some issues are also of importance; first, it is imperative to work at sufficiently high concentrations to reach the sensitivities of the analytical tools, however this condition often leads to precipitation for some of them; second, stabilizing specific oxidation states of some actinides remains a challenge, thus making it difficult to extract general trends across the actinide series. Complementary to experiments, modeling can be used to unbiasedly probe the actinide's properties in an aquatic environment and offers a predictive tool. We report the first molecular dynamics simulations based on homogeneously built force fields for the whole series of the tetravalent actinides in aqueous phase from ThIV to BkIV and including PuIV. The force fields used to model the interactions among the constituents include polarization and charge donation microscopic effects. They are built from a self-consistent iterative ab initio based engine that can be included in future developments as an element of a potential machine learning procedure devoted to generating accurate force fields. The comparison of our simulated hydrated actinide properties to available experimental data shows the model robustness and the relevance of our parameter assignment engine. Moreover, our simulated structural, dynamical and evolution of the hydration free energy data show that, apart from AmIV and CmIV, the actinide properties change progressively along the series.

A polarizable force-field (FF) model for short- and long-alkane chains and amide derivatives was constructed based solely on accurate quantum chemical (QC) calculations. First, the FF model accuracy was accessed by performing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to calculate liquid-phase thermodynamic and structural properties for alkanes, for which experimental data are available. Second, The FF was then used to perform molecular dynamics simulations to calculate thermodynamic, structural and excess properties of monoamide/dodecane mixtures, namely DEHiBA/dodecane and DEHBA/dodecane. Aggregation phenomena appear for both types of mixtures and monoamide pure phases. A detailed structural analysis revealed, at small monoamide mole fraction the formation of dimers, while trimerization at larger monoamide concentrations and in their pure phases. Analysis of the relative orientation of the dimers have also been performed and showed a small difference for both phases., 15 pages, 11 figures

Uranyl binitrate complexes have a particular interest in the nuclear industry, especially in the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The modified PUREX extraction process is designed to extract U(VI) in the form of UO

International audience; Uranyl binitrate complexes have a particular interest in the nuclear industry, especially in the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The modified PUREX extraction process is designed to extract U(VI) in the form of UO2(NO3)2(L)2 as it has been confirmed by EXAFS, XRD and TRLFS measurements. In this study, the L ligands are two molecules of N,N-di-(ethyl- 2-hexyl)isobutyramide (DEHiBA) monoamide used to bind uranyl in its first coordination sphere. DEHiBA ligands can coordinate uranyl in either trans- or cis-positions with respect to the nitrate ligands and these two conformers may co-exist in solution. In order to use luminescence spectroscopy as a speciation technique, it is important to determine whether or not these conformers can be discriminated by their spectroscopic properties. To answer this question, the spectra of trans- and cis-UO2(NO3)2(DEiBA)2 conformers were modeled with ab initio methods and compared to the experimental time-resolved luminescence spectra on the UO2(NO3)2(DEHiBA)2 systems. Moreover, the hydrated uranyl binitrate UO2(NO3)2(H2O)2 complexes in the same trans and cis configurations were modeled to quantify the impact of organic DEHiBA on the luminescence properties.

We investigated isolated sodium/chloride aqueous droplets at the microscopic level, which comprise from about 5k to 1M water molecules and whose salt concentrations are 0.2$m$ (brackish water) and 0.6$m$ (sea water), by means of molecular dynamics simulations based on an \emph{ab initio}-based polarizable force field. The size of our largest droplets is at the submicron particle marine aerosol scale. From our simulations, we investigated ion spatial distributions, ion aggregates (size, composition, lifetime and distribution), droplet surface potentials and the densities of the water vapor surrounding the droplets. Regarding ions, they form a weak electrostatic double layer extending from the droplet boundary to 2~nm within the droplet interior. Free $\mathrm{Na^+}$ and ion aggregates are more repelled from the boundary than free $\mathrm{Cl^-}$. Most of the droplet properties depend on the droplet radius $R$ according to the standard formula $A=A_\infty(1 - 2 \delta/R) $, where $A_\infty$ is the bulk magnitude of the quantity $A$ and $\delta$ is a length at most at the~nm scale. Regarding the water vapor densities they obey a Kelvin relation corresponding to a surface tension whose Tolman length is negative and at the 1~nm scale. That length is about one order of magnitude larger than for pure water droplets, however it is weak enough to support the reliability of a standard Kelvin term (based on planar interface surface tensions and water densities) and of the related K{\"o}lher equation to model sub-micron salty aerosols., Comment: 54 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables

The coordination chemistry of Cm(III) with aqueous phosphates was investigated by means of laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy and

The ability to predict the nature and amounts of plutonium emissions in industrial accidents, such as in solvent fires at PUREX nuclear reprocessing facilities, is a key concern of nuclear safety agencies. In accident conditions and in the presence of oxygen and water vapor, plutonium is expected to form the three major volatile species $\rm{PuO_2}$, $\rm{PuO_3}$, and $\rm{PuO_2(OH)_2}$, for which the thermodynamic data necessary for predictions (enthalpies of formation and heat capacities) presently show either large uncertainties or are lacking. In this work we aim to alleviate such shortcomings by obtaining the aforementioned data via relativistic correlated electronic structure calculations employing a two-step multi-reference approach (MS-CASPT2 with SO-RASSI), which is able to describe the multireference character of the ground-state wave functions of $\rm{PuO_3}$ and $\rm{PuO_2(OH)_2}$. We benchmark this approach by comparing it to relativistic coupled cluster calculations for the ground, ionized, and excited states of $\rm{PuO_2}$. Our results allow us to predict enthalpies of formation $\Delta_fH^\ominus(\rm{298.15~K})$ of $\rm{PuO_2}$, $\rm{PuO_3}$ and $\rm{PuO_2(OH)_2}$ to be $\rm{-449.5\pm8.8}$, $\rm{-553.2\pm27.5}$, and $\rm{-1012.6\pm38.1~kJ\;mol^{-1}}$, respectively, which confirm the predominance of plutonium dioxide, but also reveal the existence of plutonium trioxide in the gaseous phase under oxidative conditions, though the partial pressures of $\rm{PuO_3}$ and $\rm{PuO_2(OH)_2}$ are nonetheless always rather low under a wet atmosphere. Our calculations also permit us to reassess prior results for $\rm{PuO_2}$, establishing that the ground state of the $\rm{PuO_2}$ molecule is mainly of $\rm{^{5}\Sigma_{g}^+}$ character, as well as to confirm the experimental value for the adiabatic ionization energy of $\rm{PuO_2}$., Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, 9 tables and supplementary information

International audience; In the context of nuclear fuel reprocessing, the recovery and purification of major actinides is achieved using a hydrometallurgical process known as PUREX (Plutonium Uranium Recovering by Extraction). Based on Liquid-Liquid extraction technics, this process requires a specific molecule to extract Pu and U, the Tri-n-butyl phosphate TBP. Monoamides are regarded as alternative family of extraction molecules to TBP, as they are well known for their strong extraction ability of Pu(IV) and U(VI) elements. In addition to this, they show some interesting features, such as the complete incinerability of the solvent degradation products, and a strong dependence of the extraction properties (distribution coefficient and selectivity) on the chemical conditions [1-3]. The strong influence of the structure of amide derivatives on their extraction properties has been demonstrated in several studies in the literature. In this study, we propose to investigate and rationalize the influence of the nature and length of the monoamide alkyl chains on Pu(IV) extraction/complexation, using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) method in the scalar relativistic framework. We will discuss the geometries of the inner/outer-sphere complexes and the interaction energies of [Pu(NO3)4] and [Pu(NO3)6]2- with different monoamide and carbamide ligands have been calculated. Our investigation focuses on discriminating the influence of the bulkiness of the alkyl group, and that of the solvent polarity on the stability of inner and outer-sphere complexes. This study suggests key possibilities to tune the substituent effect by changing the polarity of the solution [4]. References[1]G. Milanole et al. WO/2018/138441 (2018).[2]C. Berger et al., Solvent Extr. Ion Exch., 37 , 111-125 (2019).[3]E. Acher et al., Inorg. Chem., 55, 5558-5569 (2016). [4]A. Failali et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 23, 2229-2237 (2021).

Thermodynamic databases are essential for the safety assessments of radioactive waste repositories. They have to be reliable, comprehensive, and describe the key mechanisms controlling the mobility of contaminants in the environment. However, in many cases these prerequisites are not fulfilled. An important example is the complexation of actinides and lanthanides with aqueous phosphates, for which this work provides complexation constants for spectroscopically identified species at 298K and at elevated temperature. The complexation of Cm(III) and Eu(III) was studied at submicromolar concentrations by laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy as a function of total phosphate concentration (0-0.06 M ΣPO₄) in the temperature range of 298-363K, using NaClO₄ as a background electrolyte at –log[H⁺] ranging from 2.5 to 3.6. The formation of both CmH₂PO₄²⁺/EuH₂PO₄²⁺ and Cm(H₂PO₄)₂⁺/Eu(H₂PO₄)₂⁺ complexes was revealed, the latter being spectroscopically evidenced for the first time. Complexation constants were found to increase when raising the ionic strength from 0.5 to 3.0 M. Temperature-dependent complexation constants for the identified species were derived and recalculated to standard conditions using the van´t Hoff equation and the Specific Ion Interaction Theory. Endothermic and entropy driven reactions were established for both Cm(III) and Eu(III) phosphate complexes. In addition, relativistic quantum chemical investigations were performed to study the complexation strength of Cm(III) with aqueous phosphates, to provide insight into potential changes of the coordination number with increasing temperature and to probe the character of the Cm water and Cm phosphate bonds.

Quantitative predictions of the release of volatile radiocontaminants of ruthenium (Ru) in the environment from either nuclear power plants (NPP) or fuel recycling accidents present significant uncertainties while estimated by severe accidents nuclear analysis codes. Observations of Ru from either experimental or modeling works suggest that the main limitations relate to the poor evaluation of the kinetics of gaseous Ru in the form of RuO$_3$ and RuO$_4$. This work presents relativistic correlated quantum chemical calculations performed to determine the possible reactions pathways leading to the formation of gaseous Ru oxides under NPP severe accident conditions, as a result of reactions of RuO$_2$ gaseous with air radiolysis products, namely nitrous and nitrogen oxides. The geometries of the relevant species were optimized with the TPSSh-5%HF functional of the density, while the total electronic energies were computed at the CCSD(T) level with extrapolations to the complete basis set CBS limit. The reaction pathways were fully characterized by localizing the transition states and all intermediate structures using the internal coordinate reaction algorithm (IRC). The rate constants were determined over the temperature range 250-2500 K. It is revealed that the less kinetically limiting pathway to form Ru gaseous fraction is the oxidation of Ru by nitrogen oxide, corroborating experimental observations., Comment: 9 pages, 7 tables, 5 figures

International audience; The coordination chemistry of Cm(III) with aqueous phosphates was investigated by means of laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy and ab initio simulations. For the first time, in addition to the presence of Cm(H2PO4)2+, the formation of Cm(H2PO4)2+ was unambiguously established from the luminescence spectroscopic data collected at various H+ concentrations (−log10 [H+] = 2.52, 3.44, and 3.65), ionic strengths (0.5–3.0 mol·L-1 NaClO4), and temperatures (25–90 °C). Complexation constants for both species were derived and extrapolated to standard conditions using the specific ion interaction theory. The molal enthalpy ΔRHm0 and molal entropy ΔRSm0 of both complexation reactions were derived using the integrated van’t Hoff equation and indicated an endothermic and entropy-driven complexation. For the Cm(H2PO4)2+ complex, a more satisfactory description could be obtained when including the molal heat capacity term. While monodentate binding of the H2PO4- ligand(s) to the central curium ion was found to be the most stable configuration for both complexes in our ab initio simulations and luminescence lifetime analyses, a different temperature-dependent coordination to hydration water molecules could be deduced from the electronic structure of the Cm(III)–phosphate complexes. More precisely, where the Cm(H2PO4)2+ complex could be shown to retain an overall coordination number of 9 over the entire investigated temperature range, a coordination change from 9 to 8 was established for the Cm(H2PO4)2+ species with increasing temperature.

International audience

The luminescence spectra of triscarbonatouranyl complexes were determined by experimental and theoretical methods. Time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy was used to monitor spectra of uranyl and bicarbonate solutions at 0.1 mol kg

We performed 10 ns scale molecular dynamics simulations of 6 SARS-CoV-2 main protease/alpha-ketoamide inhibitor complexes in aqueous solution, in the phase before the inhibitor covalently binds to the protease's catalytic cysteine, using a polarizable multi-scale molecular modeling approach. For each simulation, 100 Mpro/inhibitor snapshots(about 4 800 atoms) were extracted along the last 2 ns simulation segments. They were post processed using a fully quantum mechanical O(N) approach to decompose the protease in sets of fragments from which we computed the mean local interaction energies between the inhibitors and the different pockets of the protease catalytic domain. Contrary to earlier results, our analysis shows that the protease pocket S2 to be a key anchoring site able to lock within the catalytic domain an alpha-ketoamide inhibitor even before covalent bonding to the protease catalytic cysteine occurs. To target that pocket our computations suggest to consider hydrophobic groups, like cyclo-propyl or cyclo-hexyl.

International audience; Three bismuth(III)-organic compounds, [Bi4Cl8(PDC)2(phen)4]∙2MeCN (1), [BiCl3(phen)4] (2), and [Bi2Cl6(terpy)4] (3), were prepared from solvothermal reactions of bismuth chloride, 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (H2PDC), and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) or 2,2';6',2"-terpyridine (terpy). The structures were determined through single crystal X-ray diffraction and the compounds were further characterized via powder X-ray diffraction, Raman and infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The photoluminescent properties of the solid-state materials were assessed using steady state and time-dependent techniques to obtain excitation and emission profiles as well as lifetimes. The compounds exhibit visible emission ranging from the yellow-green to orange region upon UV excitation. Theoretical quantum mechanical calculations aimed at elucidating the observed emissive behavior show that the transitions can be assigned as predominantly ligand-to-ligand and ligand-to-metal charge transfer transitions. The solid-state structural chemistry, spectroscopic properties, and luminescent behavior of the bismuth compounds are presented herein.

International audience; Polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) constitute an important class of molecules found in various environments and are considered important pollutants of the Earth's atmosphere. In particular, functionalization of PACs modify the ring aromaticity, which greatly influences the chemical reactivity of these species. In this work we studied several oxygen-containing PACs, relevant to atmospheric chemistry. We investigated the conformational landscape of four naphthalene-derivative molecules -- namely ,1- and 2-hydroxynaphthalene and 1- and 2-naphthaldehyde -- by means of rotational and vibrational spectroscopy supported by quantum chemical calculations. For 1-hydroxynaphthalene and 1-naphthaldehyde, intramolecular hydrogen bonding and steric effects drive the conformational preferences while for 2-hydroxynaphthalene and 2-naphthaldehyde, the charge distributions allow us to understand the conformational landscape. This work not only demonstrates how the localization of the substitution group in the ring influences the conformational relative energies and but also constitutes a step toward a better understanding of the different chemical reactivity of such functionalized PACs.

We investigate the ability of mechanical and electronic density functional theory‐based embedding approaches to describe the solvent effects on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) shielding constants of the 95Mo nucleus in the molybdate ion in aqueous solution. From the description obtained from calculations with two‐ and four‐component relativistic Hamiltonians, we find that, for such systems, spin‐orbit coupling effects are clearly important for absolute shielding values, but for relative quantities, a scalar relativistic treatment provides sufficient estimation of the solvent effects. We find that the electronic contributions to the solvent effects are relatively modest yet decisive to provide a more accurate magnetic response of the system when compared to reference supermolecular calculations. We analyze the errors in the embedding calculations by statistical methods, as well as through a real‐space representation of NMR shielding densities, which are shown to provide a clear picture of the physical processes at play.

International audience; Gas-phase coordination complexes of actinyl(V) cations, AnO2+, provide a basis to assess fundamental aspects of actinide chemistry. Electrospray ionization of solutions containing an actinyl cation and sulfonate anion CH3SO2- or C6H5SO2- generated complexes [(AnVO2)(CH3SO2)2]- or [(AnVO2)(C6H5SO2)2]- where An = Np or Pu. Collision induced dissociation resulted in C-S bond cleavage for methanesulfinate to yield [(AnVO2)(CH3SO2)(SO2)]-, whereas hydrolytic ligand elimination occurred for benzenesulfinate to yield [(AnVO2)(C6H5SO2)(OH)]-. These different fragmentation pathways are attributed to a stronger C6H5-SO2- versus CH3-SO2- bond, which was confirmed for both the bare and coordinating sulfinate anions by energies computed using a relativistic multireference perturbative approach (XMS-CASPT2 with spin-orbit coupling). The results demonstrate shutting off a ligand fragmentation channel by increasing the strength of a particular bond, here a sulfinate C-S bond. The [(AnVO2)(CH3SO2)(SO2)]- complexes produced by CID spontaneously react with O2 to eliminate SO2, yielding [(AnO2)(CH3SO2)(O2)]-, a process previously reported for An = U and found here for An = Np and Pu. Computations confirm that the O2/SO2 displacement reactions should be exothermic or thermoneutral for all three An, as was experimentally established. The computations furthermore reveal that the products are superoxides [(AnVO2)(CH3SO2)(O2)]- for An = Np and Pu, but peroxide [(UVIO2)(CH3SO2)(O2)]-. Distinctive reduction of O2- to O22- concomitant with oxidation of U(V) to U(VI) reflects the relatively higher stability of hexavalent uranium versus neptunium and plutonium.

International audience; The prediction of cerium (Ce) aqueous speciation is relevant in many research fields. Indeed, Ce compounds are used for many industrial applications, which may require the control of Ce aqueous chemistry for their synthesis. The aquatic geochemistry of Ce is also of interest. Due to its growing industrial use and its release into the environment, Ce is now considered as an emerging contaminant. Cerium is also used as a proxy of (paleo)redox conditions due to the Ce(iv)/Ce(iii) redox transition. Finally, Ce(iv) is often presented as a relevant analogue of tetravalent actinides (An(iv)). In the present study, quantum chemical calculations were conducted to highlight the similarities between the structures of Ce(iv) and tetravalent actinide (An(iv); An = Th, Pa, U, Np, Pu) aqua-ions, especially Pu(iv). The current knowledge of An(iv) hydrolysis, solubility and colloid formation in water was briefly reviewed but important discrepancies were observed in the available data for Ce(iv). Therefore, new estimations of the hydrolysis constants of Ce(iv) and the solubility of Ce(iv)-(hydr)oxides are proposed, by analogy with Pu(iv). By plotting pH-Eh (Pourbaix) diagrams, we showed that the pH values corresponding to the onset of Ce(iv) species formation (i.e. Ce(iv)-(hydr)oxide or dissolved Ce(iv)) agreed with various experimental results. Although further experimental studies are required to obtain a more accurate thermodynamic database, the present work might yet help to predict more accurately the Ce chemical behavior in aqueous solution.

International audience; We estimate both single ion hydration Gibbs free energies in water droplets, comprising from 50 to 1000 molecules, and water/vacuum surface potentials in pure water droplets comprising up to 10 000 molecules. We consider four ions, namely, Li+, NH4+, F-, and Cl-, and we model their hydration process and water/water interactions using polarizable force fields based on an induced point dipole approach. We show both ion hydration Gibbs free energies and water surface potentials to obey linear functions of the droplet radius as soon as droplets comprising a few hundred water molecules. Moreover, we also show that the differences in anion/cation hydration Gibbs free energies in droplets obey a different regime in large droplets than in small clusters comprising no more than six water molecules, in line with the earlier results computed from standard additive point charge force fields. Hence, both point charge and more sophisticated induced point dipole molecular modeling approaches suggest that methods considering only the thermodynamical properties of small ion/water clusters to estimate the absolute proton hydration Gibbs free energy in solution are questionable. In particular, taking into account the data of large ion/water droplets may yield a proton hydration Gibbs free energy in solution value to be shifted by several kBT units compared to small clusters-based approaches.

International audience; We propose a general strategy to remediate force‐field artifacts in describing pairwise interactions among similar molecules M in the vicinity of another chemical species, C, like water molecules interacting at short distance from a monoatomic ion. This strategy is based on introducing a three‐body potential energy term that alters the pairwise interactions among M‐type molecules when they lie at short range from the species C. In other words the species C is the center of a space domain where the pairwise interactions among the molecules M is altered. Here, we apply it to improve the description of the water interactions provided by the polarizable water model TCPE/2013 in the vicinity of halides, from F- to At-, and of the prototypical carboxylate anion CH3COO-. We show the accuracy and the transferability of such an approach to investigate not only the hydration process of single anions but also of a salt solution NH4+ in aqueous phase. This strategy can be used to remediate the drawbacks of any kind of force fields.

International audience; A subsystem approach for obtaining electron binding energies in the valence region is presented and applied to the case of halide ions (X-; X= F − At) in water. This approach is based on electronic structure calculations combining the relativistic equation-of-motion coupled cluster method for electron detachment and density functional theory via the frozen density embedding approach, using structures from classical molecular dynamics with polarizable force fields for discrete systems (in our study, droplets containing the anion and 50 water molecules). Our results indicate that one can accurately capture both the large solvent effect observed for the halides and the splitting of their ionization signals due to the increasingly large spin-orbit coupling of the p3/2-p1/2 manifold across the series, at an affordable computational cost. Furthermore, owing to the quantum mechanical treatment of both solute and solvent electron binding energies of semiquantitative quality are also obtained for (bulk) water as by-products of the calculations for the halogens (in droplets).

The aqueous fluoro complexes of niobium and tantalum were studied using synchrotron based extended X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS) as model systems for comparison of the structural and coordination chemistry of the Group V metals Nb, Ta and their pseudo-homologue Pa(V). The EXAFS indicate differences in the coordination chemistry of Nb and Ta in these systems that were not intuitive based on their similar charge and ionic radii. The Ta speciation is dominated by six and seven coordinate fluoro complexes, while the chemical speciation of Nb under the same conditions is dominated by its hydrolyzed oxyfluoride complexes. Quantum chemical computations were performed to more fully describe these observations and these results were compared to our earlier study on the fluoro complexes of protactinium. Computations performed with and without the inclusion of scalar relativistic effects reveal that the differences in the chemistry among the Group V elements, and their pseudo-homologue protactinium, are due to the increasing influences of relativistic effects as Z is increased from niobium to protactinium.

More than a century after its discovery the structure of the Pa(4+) ion in acidic aqueous solution has been investigated for the first time experimentally and by quantum chemistry. The combined results of EXAFS data and quantum chemically optimized structures suggest that the Pa(4+) aqua ion has an average of nine water molecules in its first hydration sphere at a mean Pa-O distance of 2.43 A. The data available for the early tetravalent actinide (An) elements from Th(4+) to Bk(4+) show that the An-O bonds have a pronounced electrostatic character, with bond distances following the same monotonic decreasing trend as the An(4+) ionic radii, with a decrease of the hydration number from nine to eight for the heaviest ions Cm(4+) and Bk(4+). Being the first open-shell tetravalent actinide, Pa(4+) features a coordination chemistry very similar to its successors. The electronic configuration of all open-shell systems corresponds to occupation of the valence 5f orbitals, without contribution from the 6d orbitals. Our results thus demonstrate that Pa(iv) resembles its early actinide neighbors. French National Research Agency/ANR-11-LABX-000

International audience

The 4f-5d transition of Ce

International audience; The 4f-5d transition of Ce3+ provides favorable optical spectroscopic properties such as high sensitivity and quantum yield, making it a most important dopant for lanthanide-activated phosphors. A key for the design of these materials with fine-tuned color emission is a fundamental understanding of the Ce3+ ground state and excited state structures and the dynamics of energy transfer. Such data is also crucial for deriving coordination chemistry information on Ce3+ ions in different chemical environments directly from their optical spectra. Here, by combining 4f-5d absorption and luminescence spectroscopy and highly accurate quantum chemical electronic structure calculations, we study the interplay between the local structure of Ce3+ in aqueous solutions and in crystalline hydrates, the strengths of Ce−O/Cl interactions with aqua and chloride ligands, and the resulting absorption and luminescence spectra. Experimental and theoretical absorption spectra of [Ce(H2O)9]3+ and [Ce(H2O)8]3+ with defined geometries provide a means for analyzing the equilibrium between these species in aqueous solution as a function of temperature (K(298) = 0.20 ± 0.03), while analyses of spectra of different aqua-chloro complexes reveal that eight-coordinate aqua-chloro complexes are present in solution at high chloride concentration. An intriguing feature in these systems concerns the large observed Stokes shifts, 5500−10 100 cm-1. By exploring the excited state potential energy surfaces with relativistic multireference calculations, we show that these shifts result from significant geometrical relaxation processes in the lowest 5d1 excited state. For [*Ce(H2O)8]3+ the relaxation gives shorter Ce−O bonds and a Stokes shift of ∼5500 cm-1, while for [*Ce(H2O)9]3+ the lowest 5d1 state results in a spontaneous dissociation of a water molecule and a Stokes shift of ∼10 100 cm-1. These findings are important for the understanding and optimization of luminescence properties of cerium complexes.

International audience; Alkyl-ammonium ion/water interactions are investigated using high level quantum computations, yielding thermodynamics data in good agreement with gas-phase experiments. Alkylation and hydration lead to weaken the NH O hydrogen bonds. Upon complete hydration by four water molecules, their main features are close to those of the OH O bond in the isolated water dimer. Energy decomposition analyses indicate that hydration of alkyl-ammonium ions are mainly due to electrostatic/polarization effects, as for hard monoatomic cations, but with a larger effect of dispersion.

International audience; The alkali metal ions Li+, Na+ and K+ have a profound influence on the stoichiometry of the complexes formed in uranyl(VI)–peroxide–hydroxide systems, presumably as a result of a templating effect, resulting in the formation of two complexes, M[(UO2)(O2)(OH)]2− where the uranyl units are linked by one peroxide bridge, μ-η2-η2, with the second peroxide coordinated “end-on”, η2, to one of the uranyl groups, and M[(UO2)(O2)(OH)]43-, with a four-membered ring of uranyl ions linked by μ-η2-η2 peroxide bridges. The stoichiometry and equilibrium constants for the reactions: M+ + 2UO22+ + 2HO2− + 2H2O → M[(UO2)(O2)(OH)]2− + 4H+ (1) and M+ + 4UO22+ + 4HO2− + 4H2O → M[(UO2)(O2)(OH)]43− + 8H+ (2) have been measured at 25 °C in 0.10 M (tetramethyl ammonium/M+)NO3 ionic media using reaction calorimetry. Both reactions are strongly enthalpy driven with large negative entropies of reaction; the observation that ΔH(2) ≈ 2ΔH(1) suggests that the enthalpy of reaction is approximately the same when peroxide is added in bridging and “end-on” positions. The thermodynamic driving force in the reactions is the formation of strong peroxide bridges and the role of M+ cations is to provide a pathway with a low activation barrier between the reactants and in this way “guide” them to form peroxide bridged complexes; they play a similar role as in the synthesis of crown-ethers. Quantum chemical (QC) methods were used to determine the structure of the complexes, and to demonstrate how the size of the M+-ions affects their coordination geometry. There are several isomers of Na[(UO2)(O2)(OH)]2- and QC energy calculations show that the ones with a peroxide bridge are substantially more stable than the ones with hydroxide bridges. There are isomers with different coordination sites for Na+ and the one with coordination to the peroxide bridge and two uranyl oxygen atoms is the most stable one.

International audience; The constitution and equilibrium constants of ternary uranyl(VI) peroxide carbonate complexes [(UO2)p(O2)q(CO3)r]2(p−q−r) have been determined at 0 °C in 0.50 M MNO3, M = Li, K, and TMA (tetramethyl ammonium), ionic media using potentiometric and spectrophotometric data; 17O NMR data were used to determine the number of complexes present. The formation of cyclic oligomers, “[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]n”, n = 4, 5, 6, with different stoichiometries depending on the ionic medium used, suggests that Li+, Na+, K+ and TMA ions act as templates for the formation of uranyl peroxide rings where the uranyl-units are linked by μ–η2–η2 bridged peroxide-ions. The templating effect is due to the coordination of the M+-ions to the uranyl oxygen atoms, where the coordination of Li+ results in the formation of Li[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]47-, Na+ and K+ in the formation of Na/K[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]59- complexes, while the large tetramethyl ammonium ion promotes the formation of two oligomers, TMA[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]59- and TMA[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]611-. The NMR spectra demonstrate that the coordination of Na+ in the five- and six-membered oligomers is significantly stronger than that of TMA+; these observations suggest that the templating effect is similar to the one observed in the synthesis of crown-ethers. The NMR experiments also demonstrate that the exchange between TMA[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]59- and TMA[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]611- is slow on the 17O chemical shift time-scale, while the exchange between TMA[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]611- and Na[(UO2)(O2)(CO3)]611- is fast. There was no indication of the presence of large clusters of the type identified by Burns and Nyman (M. Nyman and P. C. Burns, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2012, 41, 7314–7367) and possible reasons for this and the implications for the synthesis of large clusters are briefly discussed.

International audience; A series of double differential inelastic scattering cross-section measurements were performed on light water at several temperatures and pressures using high resolution time-of-flight inelastic spectrometers namely the IN4c and the IN6 at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, France to investigate the impact of temperature and pressure on S(q,ω) and thus S(α,β) thermal scattering kernel. The present work aims at extending previous measurements with light water at room temperature and pressure to more realistic normal operating conditions in connection with nuclear power reactors

International audience; We performed molecular dynamics simulations of carboxylate/methylated ammonium ion pairs solvated in bulk water and of carboxylate/methylated ammonium salt solutions at ambient conditions using an ab initio-based polarizable force field whose parameters are assigned to reproduce only high end quantum computations, at the Møller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory/complete basis set limit level, regarding single ions and ion pairs as isolated and micro-hydrated in gas phase. Our results agree with the available experimental results regarding carboxylate/ammonium salt solutions. For instance, our force field approach predicts the percentage of acetate associated with ammonium ions in CH3COO−/CH3NH3+ solutions at the 0.2–0.8M concentration scale to range from 14% to 35%, in line with the estimates computed from the experimental ion association constant in liquid water. Moreover our simulations predict the number of water molecules released from the ion first hydration shell to the bulk upon ion association to be about 2.0 ± 0.6 molecules for acetate/protonated amine ion pairs, 3.1 ± 1.5 molecules for the HCOO−/NH4+ pair and 3.3 ± 1.2 molecules for the CH3COO−/(CH3)4N+ pair. For protonated amine-based ion pairs, these values are in line with experiment for alkali/halide pairs solvated in bulk water. All these results demonstrate the promising feature of ab initio-based force fields, i.e., their capacity in accurately modeling chemical systems that cannot be readily investigated using available experimental techniques.

International audience; Tributyl-phosphate (TBP), a ligand used in the PUREX liquid-liquid separation process of spent nuclear fuel, can form explosive mixture in contact with nitric acid, that might lead to violent explosive thermal runaway. In the context of safety of a nuclear reprocessing plant facility, it is crucial to predict the stability of TBP at elevated temperatures. So far, only the enthalpies of formation of TBP is available in the literature with a rather large uncertainties, while those of its degradation products, di-(HDBP) and mono-(H2MBP) are unknown. In this goal, we have used state-of-the art quantum chemical methods to compute the formation enthalpies and entropies of TBP and its degradation products di-(HDBP), mono-(H2MBP) in gas and liquid phases. Comparisons of levels of quantum chemical theory revealed that there are significant effects of correlation on their electronic structures, pushing for the need of not only high level of electronic correlation treatment, namely local coupled cluster with single and double excitation operators and perturbative treatment of triple excitations [LCCSD(T)], but also extrapolations to the complete basis to produce reliable and accurate thermodynamics data. Solvation enthalpies were computed with the conductor like screening model for real solvents [COSMO-RS], for which we observe errors not exceeding 22 kJ mol-1. We thus propose with final uncertainty of about 20 kJ mol-1 standard enthalpies of formation of TBP, HDBP, and H2MBP which amounts to -1281.7±24.4, -1229.4±19.6 and -1176.7±14.8 kJ mol-1, respectively, in the gas phase. In the liquid phase, the predicted values are -1367.3±24.4, -1348.7±19.6 and -1323.8±14.8 kJ mol-1, to which we may add about -22 kJ mol-1 error from the COSMO-RS solvent model. From these data, the complete hydrolysis of TBP is predicted as an exothermic phenomena but showing a slightly endergonic process.

Actinide-containing complexes present formidable challenges for electronic structure methods due to the large number of degenerate or quasi-degenerate electronic states arising from partially occupied 5f and 6d shells. Conventional multi-reference methods can treat active spaces that are often at the upper limit of what is required for a proper treatment of species with complex electronic structures, leaving no room for verifying their suitability. In this work we address the issue of properly defining the active spaces in such calculations, and introduce a protocol to determine optimal active spaces based on the use of the Density Matrix Renormalization Group algorithm and concepts of quantum information theory. We apply the protocol to elucidate the electronic structure and bonding mechanism of volatile plutonium oxides (PuO