The coordination chemistry of actinides in ionic liquids: A review of experiment and simulation

Ionic liquids (ILs) have found widespread use in biochemical, electrochemical, catalytic, and synthetic applications, and have recently been applied to important areas of f-element chemistry. This review highlights the use of ILs in separation schemes for the sequestration of actinide ions (including lanthanides, where appropriate, as stand-ins for actinide ions), the solid-state chemistry of actinide complexes containing imidazolium cations, and the spectroscopy and electrochemistry of actinide cationic and anionic species. Particular emphasis is placed on the coordination environments that are present under a variety of conditions, such as acidic and basic tetrachloroaluminate melts. Also, this review touches on the recent use of computer simulations to elucidate the microscopic interactions that result in the preferential solvation of actinide ions in ILs.