Monooctyl-α-(4-carboxyanilino)benzylphosphonic acid as a new reagent for extraction and separation of lead(II) and bismuth(III)

Monooctyl-α-(4-carboxyanilino)benzylphosphonic acid (H2L) was investigated as a novel reagent for the extraction and separation of lead(II) and bismuth(III) from nitrate solutions. Stoichiometric ionization constants of H2L in ethanol — water mixtures determined by potentiometric NaOH titration had values pKa1 2.25 and pKa2 4.33. Ethanol and chloroform solutions of H2L followed Beer's law at 300 nm and 296 nm, molar absorptivities being 2.94·104 mol−1·l·cm−1 and 2.85·104 mol−1·l·cm−1, respectively. HNO3 and HCl were also extracted into chloroform solutions containing H2L. Bismuth(III) was quantitatively transferred into the chloroform H2L solution at pH 1, and lead(II) at 3.5. The value of the separation factor DBi/DPb is 160 at pH 1.