SYNTHESIS AND STRUCTURE OF NEUTRAL PI-ARENE COMPLEX (ETA(6)-C(6)H(5)ME)U(ALCL4)(3)

A new neutral pi-arene complex of trivalent uranium, (eta(6)-C(6)H(5)M e)U(AlC4)(3) (1), was obtained by the reductive Freidel-Crafts reactio n. The crystal structure of 1 was determined by single crystal X-ray d iffraction analysis. The U atom in 1 is bound to the C(6)H(5)Me group by the eta(6) mechanism and is linked to the three AlC1(4) groups thro ugh two mu-Cl bridges. The coordination of the U atom is a distorted p entagonal bipyramid in which the center of the arene ring is in one ap ical position, and the bridging Cl atoms occupy the other vertices.