Extraction of actinides by multidentate diamides and their evaluation with computational molecular modeling

Sasaki, Yuji  ; Kitatsuji, Yoshihiro  ; Hirata, Masaru ; Kimura, Takaumi ; Yoshizuka, Kazuharu*

The multidentate diamides are synthesized and examined for the actinide (An) extractions, bi- and tridentate extractants are focused in this work. The extraction of actinide was performed from 0.1-6M HNO to organic solvents. It was obvious that tetraalkyl-diglycolamide (DGA) derivatives, (methylimino)bis(N,N-dioctylacetamide) (MIDOA) and dimethyl-dioctyl-2-(3-oxapentadecane)-malonamide (DMDOOPDMA) have relatively high D values (D(Pu): more than 70). The following notable results using DGA extractants are obtained, (1) DGA with short alkyl chain give higher D values than those with long alkyl chain, (2) DGA with long alkyl chain have high solubility in n-dodecane. The molecular modeling with computational chemistry was also used to elucidate the effects of structural and electronic properties of the reagents on their different extractabilities.