Ionic liquids (ILs) are low melting point salts composed of bulk organic cations and various anions. They possess many attractive properties such as insignificant vapor pressure, wide electrochemical window and tunability of properties through the change in the combination of cation and anion. Consequently, the widely tuneable class of ILs has become of interest for lanthanide and actinide coordination chemistry, f-element spectroscopy, f-element electrochemistry and electrodeposition. Unfortunately, a basic understanding of the dissolution and solvation of 4f- and 5f-element compounds in ILs hasn't been established. The low solubility of most metal salts is a serious drawback for possible application of ILs in large-scale electrodeposition of metals. We synthesize task-specific ILs by covalently attaching functional groups to the cationic core to increase solubility of metal oxide and metal salts in ILs. Two task-specific ILs, 1-carboxymethyl-2-methylpyrazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and DL-carnitine bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide have been synthesized and characterized. The Uranium(VI) complexation with both task-specific ILs has been investigated. The synthesis, characterization, and electrochemistry of these Uranium(VI) complexes will be discussed.

Uranium(VI) complexation with task-specific ionic liquids

246th National Meeting (2013)

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