Organoactinide complexes of the type Cp(2)AcR(2) (Ac=Th, U) catalyze
the intermolecular hydroamination of terminal alkynes with aliphatic a
mines. The regio-selectivity of the products can be tuned by the alkyn
e and the metal. Mechanistic studies shows that the rate-limiting step
is the formation of an actinide imido complex. For thorium, the imido
intermediate has been characterized by standard techniques, including
X-ray diffraction.