Synthesis of poly(amide-ester)s from 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acid and ethanolamine derivatives - investigation of the polymer sorption behaviour towards heavy metal ions

The synthesis of poly(amide-ester)s from 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acid with ethanolamine derivatives has been investigated via two different ways. The first one is direct polycondensation with aminoalcohol leading to a statistical structure. The second one is polycondensation with an intermediate reactive compound, a bis(amide-alcohol), which has only one type of functional group leading to a more regular and defined polymer chain. These new polymers have in the main chain pyridine, ester and amide groups, known to have complexing abilities. Chelation attempts with various metals were done in order to evaluate their possible use as chelating resins. As the synthesized poly(amide-ester)s are insoluble in water, solid/liquid extractions have been carried out and the resins' sorption for mixture of basic and/or precious metals have been studied under various experimental conditions (reaction time and hydrochloric acid concentration). The polycondensates are Au(III)-selective and their capacity and desorption characteristics have been evaluated. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.