Uranyl complexes of alkyl-bridged ditopic diaminotetraphenol ligands and their use as uranyl ion extractors.

The coordination chemistry of uranyl ions was studied using long n-alkyl chain (n = 5-8) bridged by N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-hydroxy-3-methyl-5-tert-butylbenzyl)diaminoalkanes (H4L1-H4L4) as ligands. All ligands formed 2:1 (U-to-L ratio) complexes with uranyl ions, but in addition 1:1 complexes could be characterized using ligands H4L2 and H4L3. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopy (IR and NMR), and X-ray diffraction. The 2:1 complexes are of two types: [(UO2)2(H2Lm)(NO3)2(solvent)2] (m = 1 and 2; solvent = ethanol or propanol) or (cation)2[(UO2)2(H2Lm)(NO3)2(anion)2]·xsolvent (m = 2 and 4; cation = triethylammonium, anion = nitrate or thiocyanate, and solvent = dichloromethane and acetonitrile; x = 1 or 2). The 1:1 complexes have the formula [(UO2)2(H2Lm)2] (m = 2 and 3). In the solid state, 2:1 complexes are almost in a linear conformation with the uranyl ion at both ends of the ligand. The 1:1 complexes are cyclic dinuclear molecules. Preliminary studies of the ligands as uranyl ion extractors from water to dichloromethane were also performed. A high extraction efficiency was observed with H4L3 for uranyl ions, and in the presence of Cu(II), Ni(II), Co(II), and Zn(II) ions, a good extraction selectivity for uranyl ions was found with H4L1.