Separation and quantitative determination of the cerium group lanthanides by gas-liquid chromatography

A gas chromatographic method is reported for the separation and subsequent quantitative determination of the cerium group lanthanides. The lanthanides (RE) are synergistically extracted from aqueous solution with the polyfluorinated beta-diketone 1,1,1,2,2,6,6,7,7,7-decafluoro-3,5-heptanedione, H(FHD), as ligand, and di-n-butylsulphoxide, DBSO, as neutral donor. The composition of the extracted species is reported to be RE(FHD)(3) .2DBSO. Thermogravimetric analysis of the complexes is reported. Analytical curves were prepared and found to be usable over the range of 0.1-10 mug of metal. Individual lanthanides were determined with 99.0 % recovery with a relative mean deviation of +/-2.0%. Mixture of lanthanides were analyzed with 101.2% recovery with a relative mean deviation of +/-2.2%.