Crown ethers as synergists in the extraction of trivalent lanthanoids with 3-phenyl-4-(4-fluorobenzoyl)-5-isoxazolone

Abstract

Summary This paper highlights the results of investigations carried out on the extraction of lanthanoids such as Nd(III), Eu(III) and Tm(III) from nitrate solutions into chloroform with 3-phenyl-4-(4-fluorobenzoyl)-5-isoxazolone (HFBPI) in the presence and absence of various crown ethers (CE); 18-crown-6 (18C6), dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 (DC18C6), benzo-18-crown-6 (B18C6) and dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6). The results demonstrated that these trivalent metal ions were extracted into chloroform as Ln(FBPI) 3 with HFBPI alone and as Ln(FBPI) 3 ·CE in the presence of a CE. The equilibrium constants of the above extracted complexes deduced by a non-linear regression analysis were found to increase monotonically with a decrease in ionic radii of these metal ions. The addition of a CE to the metal chelate system significantly improves the extraction efficiency of these metal ions. The complexation strength of trivalent lanthanoids with various CEs follows the order: DC18C6 > 18C6 > B18C6 > DB18C6. Solid complexes of Eu(III) with HFBPI alone and with mixtures of HFBPI and various crown ethers have been isolated and characterised by IR and 1 H NMR spectral data to further clarify the nature of the extracted complexes.