Ion-Pair Solvent Extraction of EDTA Anions with Tetraalkylammonium Ions in Various Organic Solvents

Abstract

The ion-pair solvent extraction behavior of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) anion by various tetraalkylammonium ions was investigated at 25.0 ± 0.1°C. The extraction of EDTA exceeded 90% from the basic aqueous solution into the organic solvents such as n-hexane and benzene derivatives containing tri-n-octylmethylammonium chloride, but EDTA was hardly extracted from acidic solution. Among the chemical species of EDTA in aqueous solution, edta4− is the most extractable one. On the other hand, the extraction of EDTA was less than 1% into chloroform and 1,2-dichloroethane even from the basic aqueous solution. The effect of the structure of alkylammonium ion was also examined. Tetra-n-hexylammonium and tetra-n-octylammonium ions could not extract EDTA even from the basic aqueous solution, while the use of tri-n-octylmethylammonium and di-n-lauryldimethylammonium ions enhances the extraction of EDTA. These results suggest that the steric hindrance in the ion-pair of alkylammonium and EDTA anion in the organic phase affects the extractability of EDTA containing ion-pair. The solution structure of ion-pair in the organic phase was calculated by MMFF force field and the steric effect in the ion-pair was also suggested. From the extraction constants obtained, the possibility of the extraction separation of EDTA has been shown.