Uranium tetrachloride

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Uranium tetrachloride
Uranium Tetrachloride crystal structure
Names
IUPAC name
Uranium(IV) chloride
Other names
Tetrachlorouranium
Uranium tetrachloride
Uranous chloride
Identifiers
3D model (
JSmol
)
ChemSpider
ECHA InfoCard
100.030.040 Edit this at Wikidata
EC Number
  • 233-057-7
UNII
  • InChI=1S/4ClH.2U/h4*1H;;/q;;;;2*+2/p-4 checkY
    Key: AYQSGSWJZFIBLR-UHFFFAOYSA-J checkY
  • InChI=1/4ClH.2U/h4*1H;;/q;;;;2*+2/p-4
    Key: AYQSGSWJZFIBLR-XBHQNQODAS
  • [U+4].[Cl-].[Cl-].[Cl-].[Cl-]
Properties
UCl4
Molar mass 379.84 g/mol
Appearance olive green solid
Density 4.87 g/cm3
Melting point 590 °C (1,094 °F; 863 K)
Boiling point 791 °C (1,456 °F; 1,064 K)
Hydrolysis
Solubility Soluble in hydrochloric acid
Structure
Octahedral
Related compounds
Related compounds
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
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Uranium tetrachloride is an

uranium enrichment. It is one of the main starting materials for organouranium chemistry
.

Synthesis and structure

Single crystals of uranium tetrachloride (field of view about 7 mm)

Uranium tetrachloride is synthesised generally by the reaction of uranium trioxide (UO3) and hexachloropropene. Solvent UCl4 adducts can be formed by a simpler reaction of UI4 with hydrogen chloride in organic solvents.

Uranium tetrachloride also forms the nonahydrate, which can be produced by evaporating a mildly acidic solution of UCl4.[1]

According to X-ray crystallography the uranium centers are eight-coordinate, being surrounded by eight chlorine atoms, four at 264 pm and the other four at 287pm.[2]

Chemical properties

Dissolution in protic solvents is more complicated. When UCl4 is added to water the uranium aqua ion is formed.

UCl4 + xH2O → [U(H2O)x]4+ + 4Cl

The aqua ion [U(H2O)x]4+, (x is 8 or 9[3]) is strongly hydrolyzed.

[U(H2O)x]4+ ⇌ [U(H2O)x−1(OH)]3+ + H+

The pKa for this reaction is ca. 1.6,[4] so hydrolysis is absent only in solutions of acid strength 1 mol dm−3 or stronger (pH < 0). Further hydrolysis occurs at pH > 3. Weak chloro complexes of the aqua ion may be formed. Published estimates of the log K value for the formation of [UCl]3+(aq) vary from −0.5 to +3 because of difficulty in dealing with simultaneous hydrolysis.[4]

With alcohols, partial solvolysis may occur.

UCl4 + xROH ⇌ UCl4−x(OR)x + xHCl

Uranium tetrachloride dissolves in non-protic solvents such as

Lewis bases
. Solvates of formula UCl4Lx are formed which may be isolated. The solvent must be completely free of dissolved water, or hydrolysis will occur, with the solvent, S, picking up the released proton.

UCl4 + H2O + S ⇌ UCl3(OH) + SH+ +Cl

The solvent molecules may be replaced by other ligand in a reaction such as

UCl4 + 2Cl → [UCl6]2−.

The solvent is not shown, just as when complexes of other metal ions are formed in aqueous solution.

Solutions of UCl4 are susceptible to oxidation by air, resulting in the production of complexes of the uranyl ion.

Applications

Uranium tetrachloride is produced commercially by the reaction of

Ernest O. Lawrence's Alpha Calutrons. Its major benefit being the uranium tetrachloride used in the calutrons is not as corrosive as the uranium hexafluoride used in most other enrichment technologies This process was abandoned in the 1950s. In the 1980s, however, Iraq unexpectedly revived this option as part of its nuclear weapons program. In the enrichment process, uranium tetrachloride is ionized into a uranium plasma
.

The uranium ions are then accelerated and passed through a strong magnetic field. After traveling along half of a circle, the beam is split into a region nearer the outside wall, which is depleted, and a region nearer the inside wall, which is enriched in 235U. The large amounts of energy required in maintaining the strong magnetic fields as well as the low recovery rates of the uranium feed material and slower more inconvenient facility operation make this an unlikely choice for large scale enrichment plants.

Work is being done in the use of molten uranium chloride–alkali chloride mixtures as reactor fuels in

actinides from irradiated nuclear fuels through pyrochemical nuclear reprocessing.[5]

Safety

Like all water soluble uranium salts, uranium tetrachloride is

nephrotoxic
(poisonous to the kidney) and can cause severe renal damage and acute renal failure if ingested.

References

  1. .
  2. .
  3. .
  4. ^ a b IUPAC SC-Database[permanent dead link] A comprehensive database of published data on equilibrium constants of metal complexes and ligands