Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Antimony (III) with Mesityl Oxide

Abstract

Abstract Mesityl oxide [(CH3)2C[dbnd]CHCOCH3] was used for the liquid-liquid extraction of antimony. It can be quantitatively extracted from 3 M hydrochloric acid within 10 sec of equilibration with 15 ml of mesityl oxide. The metal from the organic phase was stripped with 10 ml of water and was determined photometrically as its iodide complex at 425 mm. The probable composition of the extractable species at 3 M hydrochloric acid was either SbCl3 · 3MeO or [HSbCl4 (MeO)3] where MeO is mesityl oxide. The method is simple, rapid, and selective, as it was possible to separate antimony from a large number of elements which are associated with it in alloys and minerals. The method is applicable for the analysis of antimony in solder. The standard deviation is ± 1%.