Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Complexation by small organic ligands controls the bioavailability of contaminants and influences their mobility in the geosphere. We have studied the interactions of Cm3+, as a representative of the trivalent actinides, and Eu3+, as an inactive homologue, with glucuronic acid (GlcA) a simple sugar acid. Time-resolved laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) shows that complexation at pH 5.0 occurs only at high ligand to
metal ratios in the form of 1:1 complexes with standard formation constants log β0 = 1.84 ± 0.22 for Eu3+ and log β0 = 2.39 ± 0.19 for Cm3+. A combination of NMR, QMMM, and TRLFS reveals the structure of the complex to be a half-sandwich structure wherein the ligand binds through its carboxylic group, the ring oxygen, and a hydroxyl group in addition to five to six water molecules. Surprisingly, Y3+, which was used as a diamagnetic reference in NMR, prefers a different coordination geometry with bonding through at least two hydroxyl groups on the opposite side of a distorted GlcA molecule. QMMM simulations indicate that the differences in stability among Cm, Eu, and Y are related to ring strain induced by smaller cations. At higher pH a stronger complex was detected, most likely due to deprotonation of a coordinating OH group.