Department of Chemistry of the f-elements

We study the chemistry of the actinides and their lanthanide homologues in solid state as well as in solution. Modern analytical tools combined with quantum chemical computations, provide atomic scale information which can be used to characterize the physico-chemical properties of the actinides in molecules.

Our main focus is on the coordination chemistry of f-elements with inorganic and organic ligands, mostly biological and bio-inspired ligand systems. These studies use single-crystal X-ray diffraction to study structures in the solid state, and spectroscopic techniques, such as NMR, XANES, and TRLFS, to characterize structures in solution. All studies are complemented by quantum-theoretical calculations, which rely heavily on the in-house development of theoretical calculation codes for 5f systems (i.e. actinides).

The fundamental understanding of actinide chemistry is applied to investigate actinide reactivity at the water/mineral interface, where atomic force microscopy, TRLFS, and surface X-ray diffraction are used as surface sensitive speciation techniques.

A full list of experimental equipment and capacities can be found here.

Our group is open for interested Master's and PhD students, as well as interns. Some topics currently available in the institute can be found here.

Selected Publications from the Department

• Köhler, L., M. Patzschke, S. Bauters, T. Vitova, S. M. Butorin, K. O. Kvashnina, M. Schmidt, T. Stumpf and J. März (2022). "Insights into the Electronic Structure of a U(IV) Amido and U(V) Imido Complex." Chemistry – A European Journal 28(21): e202200119.
• Lv, K., C. Urbank, M. Patzschke, J. März, P. Kaden, S. Weiss and M. Schmidt (2022). "MOFs with 12-Coordinate 5f-Block Metal Centers." Journal of the American Chemical Society 144(7): 2879-2884.
• Reese, S., P. Kaden, C. J. Taylor, R. Kloditz and M. Schmidt (2021). "Structure and Thermodynamics of Eu(III) and Cm(III) Complexes with Glucuronic Acid." Inorganic Chemistry 60(19): 14667-14678.
• Neumann, J., C. Qiu, P. Eng, S. Skanthakumar, L. Soderholm, T. Stumpf and M. Schmidt (2021). "Effect of Background Electrolyte Composition on the Interfacial Formation of Th(IV) Nanoparticles on the Muscovite (001) Basal Plane." The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 125(30): 16524-16535.
• Lv, K., S. Fichter, M. Gu, J. März and M. Schmidt (2021). "An updated status and trends in actinide metal-organic frameworks (An-MOFs): From synthesis to application." Coordination Chemistry Reviews 446: 214011.
• Köhler, L., M. Patzschke, M. Schmidt, T. Stumpf and J. März (2021). "How 5f electron polarizability drives covalency and selectivity in actinide N-donor complexes." Chemistry - A European Journal 27(72): 18058-18065.
• Kloditz, R., T. Radoske, M. Schmidt, T. Heine, T. Stumpf and M. Patzschke (2021). "Comprehensive Bonding Analysis of Tetravalent f-Element Complexes of the Type [M(salen)₂]." Inorganic Chemistry 60(4): 2514-2525.
• Radoske, T., J. März, M. Patzschke, P. Kaden, O. Walter, M. Schmidt and T. Stumpf (2020). "Bonding Trends in Tetravalent Th–Pu Monosalen Complexes." Chemistry – A European Journal 26(70): 16853-16859.
• Kloditz, R., S. Fichter, S. Kaufmann, T. S. Brunner, P. Kaden, M. Patzschke, T. Stumpf, P. W. Roesky, M. Schmidt and J. März (2020). "Series of Tetravalent Actinide Amidinates: Structure Determination and Bonding Analysis." Inorganic Chemistry 59(21): 15670-15680.
• Yuan, K.; Bracco, J. N.; Schmidt, M.; Soderholm, L.; Fenter, P.; Lee, S. S. Effect of Anions on the Changes in the Structure and Adsorption Mechanism of Zirconium Species at the Muscovite (001) – Water Interface. J. Phys. Chem. C 2019, 123, 16699-16710.
• Rossberg, A.; Abe, T.; Okuwaki, K.; Barkleit, A.; Fukuzawa, K.; Nakano, T.; Mochizuki, Y.; Tsushima, S. Destabilization of DNA through interstrand crosslinking by UO₂²⁺. Chem Comm. 2019, 55, 2015-2018.
• Schöne, S.; März, J.; Stumpf, T.; Ikeda-Ohno, A. Mixed-valent neptunium oligomer complexes based on cation–cation interactions. Dalton Trans. 2019, 48, 6700-6703.
• Molodtsov, K.; Schymura, S.; Rothe, J.; Dardenne, K.; Schmidt, M. Sorption of Eu(III) on Eibenstock granite studied by µTRLFS: A novel spatially-resolved luminescence-spectroscopic technique. Sci. Rep. 2019, 9, 6287.
• Götzke, L.; Schaper, G.; März, J.; Kaden, P.; Huittinen, N.; Stumpf, T.; Kammerlander, K. K. K.; Brunner, E.; Hahn, P.; Mehnert, A.; Kersting, B.; Henle, T.; Lindoy, L. F.; Zanoni, G.; Weigand, J. J. Coordination chemistry of f-block metal ions with ligands bearing bio-relevant functional groups. Coord. Chem. Rev. 2019, 386, 267-309.
• Schöne, S.; Radoske, T.; März, J.; Stumpf, T.; Ikeda-Ohno, A. Synthesis and Characterization of Heterometallic Iron–Uranium Complexes with a Bidentate N-Donor Ligand (2,2′-Bipyridine or 1,10-Phenanthroline). Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 13318-13329.
• Martin, N. P.; Volkringer, C.; Roussel, P.; März, J.; Hennig, C.; Loiseau, T.; Ikeda-Ohno, A. {Np38} clusters: the missing link in the largest poly-oxo cluster series of tetravalent actinides. Chem. Comm. 2018, 54, 10060-10063.
• Barkleit, A.; Hennig, C.; Ikeda-Ohno, A. Interaction of Uranium(VI) with α-Amylase and Its Implication for Enzyme Activity. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 2018, 31, 1032-1041.
• Wilke, C.; Barkleit, A.; Stumpf, T.; Ikeda-Ohno, A. Speciation of the trivalent f-elements Eu(III) and Cm(III) in digestive media. J. Inorg. Biochem. 2017, 175, 248-258.
• Schöne, S.; Radoske, T.; März, J.; Stumpf, T.; Patzschke, M.; Ikeda-Ohno, A. [UO₂Cl₂(phen)₂], a Simple Uranium(VI) Compound with a Significantly Bent Uranyl Unit (phen=1,10-phenanthroline). Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23, 13574-13578.

Projects

• FENABIUM (BMBF, Nov 2016 – May 2021)
• SMILE (BMWi, Sep 2018 – Feb 2022)
• f-Char (BMBF, Okt. - Sep. 2023)

Team

Head
Name	Bld./Office	+49 351 260	Email
PD Dr. habil. Moritz Schmidt	801/P249	3156 2536	moritz.schmidthzdr.de
Employees
Name	Bld./Office	+49 351 260	Email
Dr. Robert Gericke	801/P205	2011	r.gerickehzdr.de
Dr. Peter Kaden	801/P217	2261	p.kadenhzdr.de
Jessica Lessing	801/P352	3154	j.lessinghzdr.de
Dr. Michael Patzschke	801/P356	2989	m.patzschkehzdr.de
Actinid chemistry of metall organics
Name	Bld./Office	+49 351 260	Email
Dr. Juliane März	801/P217	3209 2506	j.maerzhzdr.de
Boseok Hong	801/P205	2438	b.honghzdr.de