Spectrophotometric studies on the formation of adducts involved in synergistic extraction of uranium(IV) by mixtures of HTTA and neutral donors

Formation of adducts between U(TTA)₄ and several neutral donors was studied by spectrophotometry and it was shown that each of the neutral donors forms only 1∶1 adduct with U(TTA)₄. The adduct formation constants with some neutral donors were determined for benzene and chloroform media. As these adducts are involved in the synergistic extraction of U(IV) from aqueous media by mixtures of HTTA and neutral donors dissolved in organic solvents, the extraction equilibrium constants were estimated, The adduct formation was found to result in an increase of the co-ordination number of U(IV) from 8 in U(TTA)₄ to 9 in the adducts it forms with the neutral donors. Similar absorption spectral studies with U(DBM)₄ revealed that it forms much weaker adducts than the corresponding ones with U(TTA)₄.