Carbamoylmethylphosphine oxide (CMPO) has been studied for its ability to be an effective extractant of lanthanides and actinides. Different portions of the ligand have been substituted to increase the hydrophobicity in the molecule due to the extraction nature in the TransUranic Extraction (TRUEX) being performed in acidic environments. Our group has reported an effective one-pot synthesis method that facilities large scale production of CMPOs. We also observed that the carbon a- to the phosphine oxide could be substituted to incorporate different groups by treating the CMPO with NaH (Figure 1). For example, we have now incorporated both carboxylic acid and amide groups by this methodology and  are exploring  the possibility of tridentate coordination to lanthanides thereby eliminating the need for anionic  counterions thus increasing the extraction efficiency of the new substituted CMPOs.  We have explored the interactions of our CMPO molecules with La3+, Ce3+, Eu3+, UO2+ in gas phase using an ion-trap mass spectrometry and it observed the formation of M-L complexes that do not involve the adduction of nitrates as counterions. We would like to present the synthesis and characterization of the CMPOs as well as the different complex patterns resulted from this substitution. We acknowledge the support from the Welch Foundation, NSF Career Award program, and UTEP-LSAMP.

Synthesis of potential tridentate CMPOs and interaction with lanthanides and uranyl in gas phase

244th National Meeting (2012)

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