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Porträt PD Dr. habil. Schmidt, Moritz; FWOF

PD Dr. habil. Moritz Schmidt

Head Chemistry of the f-elements
moritz.schmidthzdr.de
Phone: +49 351 260 3156
+49 351 260 2536

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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.

Übersicht FWOF ©Copyright: PD Dr. habil. Schmidt, Moritz

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 methods 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.

Moritz Schmidt is also Professor for Coordination Chemistry of Radionuclides at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. Our group is open for interested Bachelor's and Master's students, as well as research internships. Get in touch with us!

Projects

Current

Bioinspired polyhydroxamic sequestering agents for the in vivo decorporation of actinides
(ActiDecorp, ANR/DFG, 04/2024-03/2027)
Actinide-metal-bonding at the atomic level
(Am-BALL, BMUV, 05/2023-04/2026)
Investigation of the interactions of f-elements with biologically-relevant structural motives: Determination of structure-effect principles for a mobilization in the environment
(FENABIUM-II, BMBF, 04/2023-03/2026)
Competition and Reversibility of sorption processes
(KuRSiV, BMUV, 01/2023-06/2026)

Expired

Spectroscopic characterization of f-Element complexes with soft donor ligands
(f-Char, BMBF, 10/2020 - 03/2024)
Structure effect relations between f-elements and organic ligands with natural-analogue binding modes in regards to a possible mobilization in the environment
(FENABIUM, BMBF, 10/2016 – 05/2021)
Smart-K_d applications for the long term safety assessment of nuclear waste disposal sites
(SMILE, BMWi, 09/2018 – 02/2022)

Latest publication

Synthesis of nonadentate ligand diethylene glycol-bis(3-aminopropyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid DEGTA and its complexation behavior towards trivalent lanthanides and actinides

Friedrich, S.; Näder, A.; Drobot, B.; Kretzschmar, J.; Stumpf, T.; Barkleit, A.

Abstract

A new nonadentate ligand DEGTA (diethylene glycol-bis(3-aminopropyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid) from the polyaminopolycarboxylate family was synthesized in a two-step reaction. The ligand’s pH-dependent behavior (structure and pKa values) was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The complexation ability of the ligand towards trivalent lanthanides and actinides was studied by time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) using Eu(III) and Cm(III) as representatives. For Eu(III), two species occurring at different pH values were observed and corroborated by concentration- and pD-dependent NMR-titration series, viz. [EuH2(DEGTA)]+ and [Eu(DEGTA)]−. The latter is shown to be nine-coordinate, forming isostructural complexes with Cm(III) and Sm(III) as inferred from TRLFS and 2D NMR experiments, respectively. Since the ligand DEGTA can be seen as a consecutive derivative of EDTA and EGTA with elongated backbone, the structures of their Eu(III) complexes were calculated using density functional theory (DFT) and the same aminoacetate binding motif proven by Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Based on this, upon comparison of structure-property relationships – denticity and chain length vs. coordination geometry and complex stability – one can draw conclusions on DEGTA´s complexation behavior in particular and some generalizable trends in complexation properties within the complexone series are discussed.

Keywords: TRLFS; NMR; DFT; molecular structure; complex stability; f-element

Related publications

Data publication: Synthesis of nonadentate ligand diethylene …
ROBIS: 41095 HZDR-primary research data are used by this (Id 39961) publication

Inorganic Chemistry 64(2025)10, 5014-5028
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c05049
Cited 1 times in Scopus

Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-39961

More publications

Team

Name	Bld./Office	+49 351 260	Email
Head
PD Dr. habil. Moritz Schmidt	801/P249	3156 2536	moritz.schmidthzdr.de
Employees
Name	Bld./Office	+49 351 260	Email
Johannes Balas	801/P205	2438	j.balashzdr.de
Dr. Robert Gericke	801/P205	2011	r.gerickehzdr.de
Dennis Grödler	801/P205	2438	d.groedlerhzdr.de
Dr. Peter Kaden	801/P217	2261	p.kadenhzdr.de
Jessica Lessing	801/P352	3154	j.lessinghzdr.de
Adrian Näder	801/P352	3154	a.naederhzdr.de
Dr. Michael Patzschke	801/P356	2989	m.patzschkehzdr.de
Jason Daniel Ross	801/P306	2860	j.rosshzdr.de
Till Erik Sawallisch	801/P205	2438	t.sawallischhzdr.de
Dr. Bin Yeamin	801/P205	2438	b.yeaminhzdr.de
Actinid chemistry of metall organics
Name	Bld./Office	+49 351 260	Email
Dr. Juliane März	801/P217	3209 2506	j.maerzhzdr.de