The coordination structure of the extracted nickel(<scp>ii</scp>) complex with a synergistic mixture containing dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid and 2-ethylhexyl 4-pyridinecarboxylate ester

Abstract

In this paper, a synergist complex of Ni(ii) with naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid (HNS) and n-hexyl 4-pyridinecarboxylate ester (L^I), which are corresponding short chain analogues of active synergistic extractants dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid (HDNNS) and 2-ethylhexyl 4-pyridinecarboxylate ester (4PC, L^II), was prepared and characterized by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H-NMR), elemental analyses, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS) spectroscopic studies. Single crystals of the nickel synergist complex have been grown from a methanol/water (10/1) solution and analyzed by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal structure of the nickel synergist complex shows that Ni(ii) is coordinated by four water molecules and two monodentate L^I ligands and there is no direct interaction of the Ni(ii) with sulfonic oxygen atoms of naphthalene-2-sulfonic acid anions, while hydrogen-bonded interactions of the coordinated water molecules with sulfonic oxygen atoms of naphthalene-2-sulphate anions were observed. In addition, in order to provide parallels to solvent extraction, the extracted Ni(ii) complex with HDNNS and 4PC is also prepared and studied using FT-IR and ESI-MS technology. Compared with their corresponding free ligand, similar shifts assigned to the stretching vibration of the pyridine ring and S[double bond, length as m-dash]O in both the nickel synergist complex and the extracted Ni(ii) complex suggest that in the non-polar organic phase, Ni(ii) is also coordinated by L^II ligands, while the sulfonic oxygen atoms of dinonylnaphthalene sulfonate anions not directly bonded to Ni(ii) form hydrogen bonds with water molecules (coordinated with Ni(ii) or/and solubilized in the non-polar organic phase). For the ESI-MS spectrum of the extracted Ni(ii) complex in non-polar organic phase, there exists a peak at m/z values of 1058.76, which indicates that the extracted Ni(ii) complex in the non-polar organic phase may have a coordination structure, [Ni(H₂O)₄(L^II)₂](DNNS)₂, similar to the coordination structure of the nickel synergist complex.