In the aftermath of a nuclear event, a prompt identification of weapon characteristics is essential for determining the origin and composition of the detonated device. Deterministic procedures aimed at procuring such information are presently limited to lengthy aqueous chemical separation techniques that provide temporally undesirable results. A method of transitioning from aqueous to gas-phase separation techniques requires chemical manipulation to modify fission and activation products into easily volatilized complexes. Subsequently, these complexes can be easily separated in a gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS) for separation method optimization. In this approach, two ligands, 6,6,7,7,8,8,8-heptafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-3,5-octanedione (hfod) and 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione (hdpm), have been employed to form lanthanide compounds (common fission products) for utilization in rapid gas-phase separation techniques. The synthesis of Ln[fod]x and Ln[dpm]x complexes will be discussed in detail, including procedure stages and percent yield efficiency fluxes amongst the lanthanides. Additionally, characterization of these complexes including elemental analysis, melting point data, detailed chemical structure, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD), Single-Crystal X-Ray Diffraction (SCXRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) will be discussed. Resulting synthesis efficiency and perceptible trends are identified and will be compared between the Hfod and Hdpm ligands.

Synthesis and characterization of Ln[fod]x and Ln[dpm]x compounds for the development of rapid gas-phase separation methods

249th National Meeting (2015)

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