Extraction of Anionic Cadmium Complexes With Organic Solutions of Quaternary Ammonium Salts

Abstract

The anion-exchange extraction of thiocyanate, chloride and iodide cadmium complexes by solutions of quaternary ammonium salts chlorides in organic solvents (toluene, carbon tetrachloride, ethyl acetate, isobutyl alcohol, nitrobenzene) was studied. Extraction involves solutions of alkyl dimethylbenzylammonium chlorides (R-N+(CH3)2-CH2C6H5-Cl-) and alkyl dimethylethyl-benzylammonium (R-N+(CH3)2-CH2-CH2C6H5-Cl-), where R is a straight alkyl chain, mainly C12 - C14. The composition of the cadmium anionic complexes was established by the analysis of the calibration curves E = f (pCCd (II)) constructed from cadmium sulfate solutions against the background of various contents of thiocyanate, chloride and iodide ions (ndicator electrode - ion-selective electrode with a membrane, which based on a nitrobenzene solution of tetradecylammonium bromide). The extraction process is estimated quantitatively using a distribution coefficient (D). The value of D is calculated taking into account the cadmium concentration in the aqueous phase before and after extraction. The dependence of the distribution coefficient on the organic solvent dielectric constant, the concentration and stability of the anionic complexes of cadmium is shown. So, for the indicated cadmium acidocomplexes, the minimum D values were obtained using low-polar toluene and carbon tetrachloride, and the maximum values were obtained using highly polar isobutyl alcohol and nitrobenzene. If the concentration of cadmium (II) is reduced by a factor of 100 for the cadmium rhodanide and iodide complexes, the value of D decreases by 1.6-1.9 times, for the chloride complex, by 1.2 times in the case of polar isobutyl alcohol and nitrobenzene, and 2.9-3.5 times in the case of low-polar solvents. It was experimentally established that in the series [Cd(SCN)4]2- - [CdI4]2-- [CdCl4]2- the value of D decreases for all the studied systems. The observed regularity is related both to the stability of the corresponding cadmium (II) complexes in aqueous solutions and to their hydrophobicity.