Reaction of UO 2 (dbm) 2 (THF) (dbm ¼ OC(Ph)CHC(Ph)O) with 1 equiv. of R 3 SiH (R ¼ Ph, Et), in the presence of B(C 6 F 5) 3 , results in the formation of U(OB{C 6 F 5 } 3)(OSiR 3)(dbm) 2 (THF) (R ¼ Ph, 1; Et, 2), which were isolated as red-orange crystalline solids in good yields. Interestingly, the addition of 1 equiv. of H(dbm) to 2 results in protonation of the-OSiEt 3 ligand and formation of U(OB{C 6 F 5 } 3)(dbm) 3 (4) in 33% yield, along with formation of HOSiEt 3. Furthermore, addition of HOSiEt 3 and 1 equiv. of THF to 4, results in the formation 2, revealing that this process is reversible. The two-step conversion of UO 2 (dbm) 2 (THF) to 4 represents a rare example of controlled uranyl oxo ligand cleavage at ambient temperature and pressure. Comparison of diffraction and density functional theory data for 4 suggests the presence of the inverse trans influence, with a very shallow potential energy well for distortion along the trans U-O bond.