Monooctyl-α-(4-carboxyanilino)benzylphosphonic acid as a new reagent for extraction and separation of lead(II) and bismuth(III)

Monooctyl--(4-carboxyanilino)benzylphosphonic acid (H₂L) was investigated as a novel reagent for the extraction and separation of lead(II) and bismuth(III) from nitrate solutions. Stoichiometric ionization constants of H₂L in ethanol — water mixtures determined by potentiometric NaOH titration had values pK_a1 2.25 and pK_a2 4.33. Ethanol and chloroform solutions of H₂L followed Beer's law at 300 nm and 296 nm, molar absorptivities being 2.94·10⁴ mol^–1·l·cm^–1 and 2.85·10⁴ mol^–1·l·cm^–1, respectively. HNO₃ and HCl were also extracted into chloroform solutions containing H₂L. Bismuth(III) was quantitatively transferred into the chloroform H₂L solution at pH 1, and lead(II) at 3.5. The value of the separation factor D_Bi/D_Pb is 160 at pH 1.