Hydrophilic 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives for selective Am(III) stripping into aqueous solutions

Abstract

The novel and fully combustible hydrophilic 1,10-phenantroline-2,9-dicarboxamide (1) was synthesized and investigated as Am(III) stripping agent in a simulated advanced hydrometallurgical process, in comparison with two other 1,10-phenanthroline-based ligands 2 and 3. The stripping efficiency and the Am(III)/lanthanides(III) selectivity of the TODGA (org) / phen-derivative (aq) extracting system were studied under several experimental conditions by liquid-liquid extraction tests. The results obtained clarify the main limitations of these ligands in the scope of the hydrometallurgical reprocessing but also enable to get indications to steer future investigations in the domain of the selective An(III) recovery for the advanced reprocessing of Spent Nuclear Fuel by hydrophilic ligands.

Preorganization of N,O-hybrid phosphine oxide chelators for effective extraction of trivalent Am/Eu ions – a computational study

“…3,4 Although the vast majority of the U and Pu in SNF can be reused through the PUREX (plutonium uranium reduction extraction) process, 5,6 the most hazardous nuclides, that is, the seemingly perpetual and exceptionally radioactive minor actinides (MAs), 7,8 like Am(III) and Cm(III), contain PUREX raffinate. 4 At present, the most advanced and effective technique to tackle this issue is the ''partition and transmutation'' (P&T) methodology, 4 whose central aim is to transform those long-lived radioactive nuclides into short-lived stable nuclides via the neutron-incited nuclear transmutation reaction. 9 In particular, advancement of the transmutation of MAs can be truly stalled by the lanthanide isotopes due to their high neutron retention cross-section.…”

1,10-Phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxamides as ligands for separation and sensing of hazardous metals

“…6,7 Phenanthroline is a good basis for designing of preorganized ligands. 15,16 The complex formation of 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9dicarboxamides with actinides, lanthanides and some other metals was modelled. 14 Some of hydrophilic 1,10-phenanthroline-2, 9-dicarboxamides were also studied as water-soluble complexones.…”

On the stoichiometry and stability of americium(III) complexes with a hydrophilic SO3–Ph–BTP ligand, studied by liquid–liquid extraction

“…Also other similar sulfonated poly-N-dentate hydrophilic ligands were studied as potential Am(III) stripping agents [ 7 , 8 ]. Still other hydrophilic chelating ligands proposed for selective MA stripping—completely incinerable ‘CHON’ molecules, for example neutral N,O-bitopic derivatives of 1,10-phenantroline [ 9 ] and other similar chelators [ 10 , 11 ], as well as cationic quaternary ammonium derivatives of tetra-N-dentate BTBP [Lewis FW et al in preparation]—are less efficient in separating MA from Ln.

Scheme 1 Structural formula of the SO 3 –Ph–BTP 4− anion.

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