Extraction and complexation studies with 2,6-bis(5-(-butyl)-1-pyrazol-3-yl)pyridine in the presence of 2-bromohexanoic acid.

To improve the understanding of the extraction chemistry of An(iii) and Ln(iii) with N-donor ligands 2,6-bis(5-(-butyl)-1-pyrazol-3-yl)pyridine (C4-BPP) in the presence of 2-bromohexanoic acid was investigated. Extraction studies showed an excellent separation factor of SF ≈ 200 and SF ≈ 60 in comparison with the structurally similar ligand 2,6-bis(5-neopentyl-1-pyrazol-3-yl)pyridine C5-BPP (SF ≈ 100), even though C5-BPP showed significantly higher stability constants. Time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) studies revealed the formation of the ternary 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 complexes [Eu(C4-BPP) (2-bromohexanoate) ] ( = 1-2) ( and ). [Eu(C4-BPP)(2-bromohexanoate) ] was the relevant complex species in solvent extraction. In contrast, Cm(iii) form stable 1 : 3 complexes. The ability of 2-bromohexanoic acid to replace C4-BPP from the inner coordination sphere of Eu(iii) but not from Cm(iii) is due to a more favorable complexation of Cm(iii) over Eu(iii) with C4-BPP. This resulted in a notably more efficient separation of An(iii) and Ln(iii) in comparison with C5-BPP.