Synthesis and Evaluation of N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-dicyclohexyl-Malonamide (DMDCMA) as an Extractant for Actinides

A malonamide based extractant, i.e., N,N′-dimethyl-N,N′-dicyclohexyl-malonamide (DMDCMA) was synthesized in a single step and tested for the extraction of several actinide ions such as Am(III), U(VI), Np(IV), Np(VI), Pu(IV), Pu(VI), etc., from nitric acid medium. The extractant was soluble in phenyltrifluoromethylsulphone (PTMS or FS-13) unless stated otherwise. The effect of various experimental parameters, such as the aqueous phase acidity (0.01–3 M HNO₃), nature of the acid, oxidation states of the metal ions, ligand concentration, nature of the diluent and temperature on the extraction behavior of metal ions was studied. The extracted Am(III) species was determined from slope analysis method as Am(NO₃)₃(DMDCMA)₂]. The extraction of the metal ions was found to increase with the aqueous phase acidity. The temperature variation studies allowed the calculation of the heat of the two-phase extraction reaction as well as the corresponding extraction constants. These studies revealed that DMDCMA showed good extraction for all the actinide metal ions investigated, and have the advantage of single stage synthesis and easier purification protocol.