Composition and structure of zirconium complexes in tributyl phosphate extracts of Zr from concentrated nitric acid solutions

Using quantitative difference IR spectroscopy we have found that the tibutyl phosphate & acts of zirconium from 12–15 M HN03 contain ionic associates [(TBP)₂H⁺]Zr(NO₃)₅^– (I) and [TBP· H₃0⁺ (H₂0)_n]Zr(N0₃)₅^– (II), where n = 1, 2, as well as the Zr(N0₃)₄(TBP)₂ complex at a lower concentration than (I) and (I.). The equilibrium I II is shifted toward II at higher C_HNo3⁰ and lower c_Zr⁰. The structure of associates I and II is discussed.Institute of Catalysis, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, D. I. Mendeleev Moscow Chemical Technological Institute. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 80–89, September–October, 1993.Translated by L. Smolina