Small molecule activation at uranium coordination complexes:: control of reactivity via molecular architecture

Electron-rich uranium coordination complexes display a pronounced reactivity toward small molecules. In this Feature article, the exciting chemistry of trivalent uranium ions coordinated to classic Werner-type ligand environments is reviewed. Three fundamentally important reactions of the [(((ArO)-Ar-R)(3)tacn)U]- system are presented that result in alkane coordination, CO/CO2 activation, and nitrogen atom-transfer chemistry.