The reason for a greater range of oxidation states in actinoids is attributed to:
Actinoid contraction
5f, 6d and 7s levels having comparable energies.
4f and 5d levels being close in energies.
The radioactive nature of actinoids
Actinoids show a greater range of oxidation states compared to lanthanoids. This is attributed to the fact that the 5f, 6d, and 7s energy levels are of comparable energies. As a result, electrons from all these levels can participate in bond formation .
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