Calixarenes with diphenylphosphoryl acetamide functions at the upper rim. A new class of highly efficient extractants for lanthanides and actinides

Various calix[4]arene tetraalkyl ethers and a calix[5]arene pentaalkyl ether substituted at the upper rim by the CMPO-like functional group -NH-C(O)-CH2-P(O)Ph(2) as well as some linear model compounds have been synthesized for the first time. Their ability to extract europium, thorium, neptunium, plutonium and americium from 1 mol dm(-3) aqueous HNO3 into methylene chloride or o-nitrophenyl hexyl ether was studied under various conditions, All the new oligomeric ligands, but especially the calixarene derivatives, are tremendously strong extractants compared with the commonly used CMPO [(N,N-diisobutylcarbamoylmethyl)octylphenylphosphine oxide]. Also in transport studies through supported liquid membranes their efficiency is higher than that of CMPO which shows lower transport rates even at a 10-fold concentration.