Synthesis and Screening of a Novel (dppz)-BTPhen Ligand for the separation of Americium from Europium

A novel bis(1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)-dppz (dipyridophenazine) BTPhen ligand has been synthesised and screened for its ability to selectively extract Am(III) selectively from Eu(III) from 0.001 M – 2 M HNO3. The ligand showed preferential extraction for Am(III) over Eu(III) as the [HNO3] increased towards 2 M with a reported separation factor (SFAm/Eu) of ∼225. The synthesis towards the dppz-BTPhen ligand employs a truncated synthetic approach, involving two one-pot reactions. Keywords: Actinide, lanthanide, spent nuclear fuel reprocessing, solvent extraction, BTPhen, americium, Europium.