Uranium(III) iodide explained
Uranium triiodide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula UI3. It is a black solid that is soluble in water.
Production
Uranium triiodide can be obtained from the direct reaction of its constituent elements:[1]
2 U + 3 I2 → 2 UI3
When the reaction is conducted in tetrahydrofuran (THF), the product is the blue complex UI3(THF)4.[2]
Properties
It crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system (plutonium tribromide-type) in the space group Ccmm with the lattice parameters a = 432.8 pm, b = 1401.1 pm, and c = 1000.5 pm and four formula units per unit cell.[3]
Uranium triiodide can be used as a Lewis acid catalyst for various Diels-Alder reactions carried out under mild conditions.[4]
Notes and References
- Book: Handbuch der präparativen anorganischen Chemie. 2 . 1978 . Enke . 978-3-432-87813-3 . 3., umgearb. Aufl . Stuttgart.
- Book: Inorganic Synththesis. 31. David L. Clark . Alfred P. Sattelberger . Lewis Base Adducts of Uranium Triiodide and Tris[Bis(Trimethylsilyl)Amido]Uranium . Inorganic Syntheses . 1996 . 307–315. 10.1002/9780470132623.ch55. 978-0-470-13262-3.
- Levy . J. H. . Taylor . J. C. . Wilson . P. W. . 1975-03-01 . The structure of uranium(III) triiodide by neutron diffraction . Acta Crystallographica Section B Structural Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry . 31 . 3 . 880–882 . 10.1107/S0567740875003986 . 0567-7408. free . 1975AcCrB..31..880L .
- Collin . Jacqueline . Maria . Leonor . Santos . Isabel . Oct 2000 . Uranium iodides as catalysts for Diels–Alder reactions . Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical . en . 160 . 2 . 263–267 . 10.1016/S1381-1169(00)00257-0.
