Organoactinide-catalyzed intermolecular hydroamination of terminal alkynes

Organoactinide complexes of the type Cp*(2)AcR(2) (Ac=Th, U) catalyze the intermolecular hydroamination of terminal alkynes with aliphatic amines. The regio-selectivity of the products can be tuned by the alkyne and the metal. Mechanistic studies shows that the rate-limiting step is the formation of an actinide imido complex. For thorium, the imido intermediate has been characterized by standard techniques, including X-ray diffraction.