Bis(2-ethylhexyl)-N,N-diethylcarbamoylmethyl phosphonate as a synergist in the extraction of trivalent lanthanides by 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-trifluoroacetyl-pyrazolone-5

Synergism in the extraction of trivalent lanthanides such as Nd, Eu and Lu has been investigated using mixtures of 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-trifluoroacetyl-pyrazolone-5 (HPMTFP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl)-N,N-diethylcarbamoylmethyl phosphonate (CMP) in chloroform. Lanthanides to be extracted from 0.01 mol/dm(3) chloroacetate medium with HPMTFP as Ln(PMTFP)(3) or Ln(PMTFP)3 . CMP in the absence or presence of CMP, respectively. The equilibrium constants of these synergistic species do not increase monotonically with atomic number but have a maximum at Eu. The addition of a synergist, CMP to the metal chelate system not only enhances the extraction efficiency but also improves the selectivities among these trivalent lanthanides. The IR results indicate that CMP acts as a bidentate ligand in these mixed-ligand systems.