Lanthanide extraction selectivity of a tripodal carbamoylmethylphosphine oxide ligand system.

Four tripodal carbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO)-based ligands are reported here and assessed with regard to lanthanide (Ln) coordination chemistry and selective extraction of lanthanide ions from aqueous solution. Inspired by previous liquid-liquid extraction studies that suggested a preference for terbium(iii), the current work further probes the extraction behavior of a tris-(2-aminoethyl)amine (TREN) capped, ethoxy substituted CMPO ligand with respect to the entire series of lanthanides. Upon confirmation of Tb3+ extraction selectivity versus the whole series, experiments were conducted to assess the effect of increasing the alkyl chain length within the ligand TREN cap, as well as changing the CMPO substituents by replacing the ethoxy groups with more hydrophobic phenyl groups to promote solubility in the organic extraction solvent.

X-ray crystallographic, luminescence and NMR studies of phenacyldiphenylphosphine oxide with the Ln(iii) ions Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb and Dy.

We report here the characterization in solution (NMR, luminescence, MS) and the solid-state (X-ray crystallography, IR) of complexes between phenacyldiphenylphosphine oxide and five Ln(iii) ions (Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy). Four single crystal X-ray structures are described here showing a 1 : 2 ratio between the Ln ions Eu, Dy, Sm and Gd and the ligand, where the phosphine oxide ligands are bound in a monodentate manner to the metal center. A fifth structure is reported for the 1 : 2 Eu(NO)-ligand complex showing bidentate binding between the two ligands and the metal center.