Molecular design of a novel ligand for Menshutkin complexation of Bi( iii ) from aqueous acidic copper sulfate electrolyte solutions and experimental investigations

• Published in: RSC advances Vol. 6; no. 46; pp. 39663 - 39674
• Main Authors: Arora, Jyotsna S., Gaikar, Vilas G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Bismuth; Complexation; Copper; Density functional theory; Electrolytes; Ligands; Phenyls; Sulfates
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/C6RA01960A

5-Amino-2,9-diphenoxy-1,10-phenanthroline functionalized silica is designed to reversibly adsorb bismuth impurities from strongly acidic aqueous copper sulfate solutions. The ligand interacts with Bi( iii ) ions through weak non-covalent interactions due to the presence of the arene–π electron cloud of the phenyl moiety. The stronger complexation of Bi( iii ) as compared to Sb( iii ), As( iii ) and Cu( ii ) ions with the ligand was explored using Density Functional Theory (DFT) under solvated conditions. The theoretical predictions were validated by experimental studies with Bi( iii )/Cu( ii ) mixtures in aqueous acidic solutions. The ligand shows very high selectivity ( α = 978) towards Bi( iii ) in the presence of a high concentration of Cu( ii ) in the acidic solutions.