Remarkable Improvement in Am and Cm Separation Using a Cooperative Counter Selectivity Strategy by a Combination of Branched Diglycolamides and Hydrophilic Polyaza-heterocycles.

Separation of Am and Cm is one of the most challenging problems in the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle. In the present work, we exploited the cooperative effect of the opposite selectivity of hydrophobic branched DGA derivatives and hydrophobic N-donor heterocyclic ligands taken in two different phases to achieve improved separation behavior. A systematic study was performed using a series of DGA derivatives to understand the effect and the position of branching in the alkyl chains on the separation behavior of Am and Cm.

Remarkable Enhancement in Extraction of Trivalent -Block Elements Using a Macrocyclic Ligand with Four Diglycolamide Arms: Synthesis, Extraction, and Spectroscopic and Density Functional Theory Studies.

A multiple diglycolamide (DGA)-containing ligand having four DGA arms tethered to a tetraaza-12-crown-4 ring, viz. 2,2',2'',2'''-(((1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetrayl)tetrakis(2-oxoethane-2,1-diyl)) tetrakis (oxy)) tetrakis(-dioctylacetamide) (T12C4ODGA), was synthesized and evaluated for the extraction of different actinide and lanthanide ions, viz. Am, Eu, Pu, Np, and UO.

A diglycolamide-functionalized TREN-based dendrimer with a 'crab-like' grip for the complexation of actinides and lanthanides.

A generation 1 dendrimer, based on tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (TREN), containing six diglycolamide (DGA) pendent arms (termed TREN-G1-DGA) was synthesized and evaluated for the extraction of actinides and fission product ions. Solvent extraction studies indicated preferential extraction of Eu3+ over Am3+ with a separation factor value of ca. 4.

First Report on the Complexation of Actinides and Lanthanides Using 2,2',2''-(((1,4,7-Triazonane-1,4,7-triyl)tris(2-oxoethane-2,1-diyl)) tris(oxy)) tris( N, N-dioctylacetamide): Synthesis, Extraction, Luminescence, EXAFS, and DFT Studies.

A novel tripodal diglycolamide ligand containing a triazamacrocycle center (2,2',2''-(((1,4,7-triazonane-1,4,7-triyl)tris(2-oxoethane-2,1-diyl)) tris(oxy)) tris( N, N-dioctylacetamide), abbreviated as T9C3ODGA) was synthesized and characterized by conventional techniques. The ligand resulted in efficient extraction of actinide/lanthanide ions yielding the trend: Eu > Pu > Am > NpO > UO > Sr > Cs. Similar to most of the other diglycolamide (DGA) ligands, Eu was preferentially extracted as compared to Am; the separation factor ( D/ D) value at 3 M HNO was ca.

First Report on the Separation of Trivalent Lanthanides from Trivalent Actinides Using an Aqueous Soluble Multiple N-Donor Ligand, 2,6-bis(1 H-tetrazol-5-yl)pyridine: Extraction, Spectroscopic, Structural, and Computational Studies.

A terdentate multiple N donor ligand, 2,6-bis(1 H-tetrazol-5-yl)pyridine (HBTzP), was synthesized, and its complexation with trivalent americium, neodymium, and europium was studied using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, attenuated total reflectance-fourrier transform infrared spectroscopy, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption spectrophotometry. Higher complexation strength of BTzP toward trivalent actinide over lanthanides as observed from UV-vis spectrophotometric study resulted in an effective separation of Am and Eu in liquid-liquid extraction studies employing N,N, N',N'-tetra- n-octyl diglycolamide in the presence of BTzP as the aqueous complexant. The selectivity of BTzP toward Am over Eu was further investigated by DFT computations, which indicated higher metal-ligand overlap in the Am complex as indicated from the metal-nitrogen bond order and frontier molecular orbital analysis of the BTzP complexes of Am and Eu.