Synthesis of Trimethyltriazacyclohexane (Me 3 tach) Sandwich Complexes of Uranium, Neptunium, and Plutonium Triiodides: (Me 3 tach) 2 AnI 3 .

1,3,5-Trimethyl-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane (Me 3 tach) readily complexes uranium triiodide to form (Me 3 tach) 2 UI 3 . The complex is soluble in THF and arenes and can function as a source of UI 3 to form organometallic U(III) complexes. When dissolved in pyridine (py), (Me 3 tach) 2 UI 3 forms (Me 3 tach)UI 3 (py) 2 . A related complex with the larger 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (Me 3 tacn) ligand, namely (Me 3 tacn)UI 3 (THF), was synthesized for comparison. Since X-ray quality crystals of (Me 3 tach) 2 UI 3 can be synthesized in high yield even with small-scale reactions, the system is ideal for extension to transuranium elements. Accordingly, the neptunium and plutonium complexes (Me 3 tach) 2 NpI 3 and (Me 3 tach) 2 PuI 3 were synthesized in an analogous manner from NpI 3 (THF) 4 and PuI 3 (THF) 4 , respectively.