Stability constants determination of successive metal complexes by hyphenated CE‐ICPMS

The study of radionuclides speciation requires accurate evaluation of stability constants, which can be achieved by CE‐ICPMS. We have previously described a method for 1:1 metal complexes stability constants determination. In this paper, we present its extension to the case of successive complexations and its application to uranyl‐oxalate and lanthanum‐oxalate systems. Several significant steps are discussed: analytical conditions choice, mathematical treatment by non‐linear regression, ligand concentration and ionic strength corrections. The following values were obtained: at infinite dilution, log(β₁°(UO₂Oxa))=6.93±0.05, log(β₂°(UO₂(Oxa)₂^2?))=11.92±0.43 and log(β₃°(UO₂(Oxa)₃^4?))=15.11±0.12; log(β₁°(LaOxa⁺))=5.90±0.07, log(β₂°(La(Oxa)₂^?))=9.18±0.19 and log(β₃°(La(Oxa)₃^3?))=9.81±0.33. These values are in good agreement with the literature data, even though we suggest the existence of a new lanthanum‐oxalate complex: La(Oxa)₃^3?. This study confirms the suitability of CE‐ICPMS for complexation studies.