Extraction of trivalent lanthanoids into various ionic liquids having different anions

Eguchi, Ayano ; Okamura, Hiroyuki   ; Sugita, Tsuyoshi   ; Ueda, Yuki   ; Morita, Kotaro*; Shimojo, Kojiro   ; Naganawa, Hirochika  ; Hirayama, Naoki*

In this study, the effect of the hydrophobicity and structure of an ionic liquid (IL) anion on the extraction of trivalent lanthanoid ions (Ln(III) = La, Nd, Eu, Dy, Lu) using 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone (Htta) was investigated. Four 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(perfluoroalkanesulfonyl)imides with different perfluoroalkyl (Rf) chain length (n=0, 1, 2, 4) were synthesized and used as the extraction solvent. The extraction selectivity of Ln(III) was in the order of Lu Dy Eu Nd La for all ILs. In addition, there was no significant difference in the extractability among ILs. The extracted species of each Ln(III) in these IL systems were investigated based on the slope of the plots of the logarithmic distribution ratio of Ln(III) as a function of aqueous phase pH. The results implied that the extracted species can be adjusted by Rf chain length of IL anions.