Extraction equilibria of organic acids with tri-n-octylphosphineoxide.

Abstract

The extraction equilibrium of organic acids (acetic, glycolic, propionic, lactic, pyruvic, butyric, succinic, fumaric, maleic, malic, itaconic, tartaric, citric and isocitric) with tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) was measured. The solvation numbers of the acids were the same as the numbers of the carboxyl groups on each acid molecule. The extraction equilibrium constant was controlled by the hydrophobicity of the acid when hexane was used as a diluent.