Comparison of Americium(III) and Neodymium(III) Monothiophosphate Complexes

  • Daniela Gomez Martinez
  • , Joseph M. Sperling
  • , Nicholas B. Beck
  • , Hannah B. Wineinger
  • , Jacob P. Brannon
  • , Megan A. Whitefoot
  • , Gregory P. Horne
  • , Thomas E. Albrecht-Schönzart

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mixed-donor ligands, such as those containing a combination of O/N or O/S, have been studied extensively for the selective extraction of trivalent actinides, especially Am3+ and Cm3+, from lanthanides during the recycling of used nuclear fuel. Oxygen/sulfur donor ligand combinations also result from the hydrolytic and/or radiolytic degradation of dithiophosphates, such as the Cyanex class of extractants, which are initially converted to monothiophosphates. To understand potential differences between the binding of such degraded ligands to Nd3+ and Am3+, the monothiophosphate complexes [M(OPS(OEt)2)5(H2O)2]2- (M3+ = Nd3+, Am3+) were prepared and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and optical spectroscopy and studied as a function of pressure up to ca. 14 GPa using diamond-anvil techniques. Although Nd3+ and Am3+ have nearly identical eight-coordinated ionic radii, these structures reveal that while the M-O bond distances in these complexes are almost equal, the M-S distances are statistically different. Moreover, for [Nd(OPS(OEt)2)5(H2O)2]2-, the hypersensitive 4I9/24G5/2 transition shifts as a function of pressure by −11 cm-1/GPa. Whereas for [Am(OPS(OEt)2)5(H2O)2]2-, the 7F07F6 transition shows a slightly stronger pressure dependence with a shift of −13 cm-1/GPa and also exhibits broadening of the 5f → 5f transitions at high pressures. These data likely indicate an increased involvement of the 5f orbitals in bonding with Am3+ relative to that of Nd3+ in these complexes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9237-9244
Number of pages8
JournalInorganic Chemistry
Volume63
Issue number20
Early online dateMay 9 2024
DOIs
StatePublished - May 20 2024

INL Publication Number

  • INL/JOU-24-76960
  • 170371

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