Report on the First International Conference on f-Elements (ICFE)

The First ICFE was held September 4～7, 1990 in Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. The generalconference chairperson was C. Gorller-Walrand. The conference was sponsored by the Commission of theEuropean Communities. This conference has brought together chemists, physicists and other scientists in-volved in the fundamental and application research of f-elements from many countries. It was an importantinternational conference in series, held parallelly and alternatively with the northern american Rare EarthResearch Conference. In fact it was the third conference in Europe, inherited the International Rare EarthConference held in Zurich(1985)and International Conference on Lanthanides and Actinides held in Lisbon(1987). The international advisory committee of this conference included almost all the famous scientists of

Recent Progresses in Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Actinide Clusters

Actinide-containing cluster compounds are highly important in radio-and nuclear chemistry.Until three decades ago,little attention had been paid to these heavy-element clusters because of difficulties in their syntheses and characterization as well as handling of these radioactive and chemotoxic elements.In this overview article we have selectively summarized the recent progresses in experimental and theoretical studies on actinide clusters,including actinide(An=Th,Pa,U,Np and Pu)oxide clusters as well as uranyl(UO22+)peroxide clusters and so on.It shows that An(Ⅳ)(An=Th,U,Np and Pu)is able to form highly symmetric AnⅣ6O8 core clusters and further merge into larger clusters up to An38O56 clusters(An=U,Np and Pu)with the same topology.Meanwhile,An with higher oxidation states such as U(Ⅵ)in uranyl is capable to form fullerene-like peroxide cage clusters of U20,U60 with the same topology as C20 and C60.Relativistic quantum chemistry investigations on the geometric structures,electronic structures and chemical bonding patterns have also been briefly summarized herein to provide an understanding on the structural chemistry of these peculiar clusters.The advances in electronic structure studies of actinide clusters help to develop robust theoretical and computational techniques for the future development of actinide cluster chemistry.Further experimental and computational studies of actinide clusters are needed and helpful to accelerate the development of radio-and nuclear chemistry.

Recent Progresses in the Investigation of Rare-earth Boron Inverse Sandwich Clusters

While rare-earth borides represent a class of important materials in modern industries,there are few fundamental researches on their electronic structures and physicochemical properties.Recently,we have performed combined experimental and theoretical studies on rare-earth boron clusters and their cluster-assembled complexes,revealing a series of rare-earth inverse sandwich clusters with fascinating electronic structures and chemical bonding patterns.In this overview article,we summarize recent progresses in this area and provide a perspective view on the future development of rare-earth boride clusters.Understanding the electronic structures of these clusters helps to design materials of f-element(lanthanide and actinide)borides with critical physiochemical properties.