Solvent extraction of boron with 1,2-dihydroxy-4-oxadodecane (DHD) in n-amyl alcohol

In the work presented here, 1,2-dihidroxy-4-oxadodecane (DHD) was synthesized and used for the solvent extraction of boron. DHD was prepared from glycidol and octanol by thermal epoxide ring opening reaction without using acid or base catalyst. The structure of this new extracting reagent was identified according to its spectroscopic data i.e. C-13 NMR, H-1 NMR and elemental analysis results. The fixed 10(-4) M was extracted with different volume standard solution of boron (as borax) of 10 ratios of DHD and n-amyl alcohol (AA) at different equilibrium pH values. The best extraction result was obtained at high pH values with a mixture of equal volumes of DHD and n-amyl alcohol. The different equilibrium pH values were plotted against the extraction yields (%R) and the pH(0.5) value was determined by using this graph. The extraction of boron from aqueous solutions with equal volumes of DHD and various solvents were studied and it was found that petroluem ether, n-amyl alcohol and diisopropyl ether are convinient solvents for boron extraction. Stripping of boron loaded organic phase was achieved with H2SO4 aqueous solutions. The effect of stripping as a function of H2SO4 cocentration was also studied.