Optical Absorption and Structure of a Highly Symmetrical Neptunium(V) Diamide Complex

A reflection on neptunium absorption: The absorption spectrum of NpV around 980 nm originates from a 5f→5f electric‐dipole transition, which is allowed if the NpV ion lies in a coordination environment that lacks a center of inversion, such as in [NpO2(H2O)5]+. However, the transition is completely forbidden by Laporte's rule in the highly symmetrical NpV diamide complex [NpO2(L)2]+ (see structure; Np green, O red, N blue, C gray).