Extraction of bismuth(III) with 2-bromoalkanoic acid in nondonating solvent from highly acidic aqueous solution

The extraction behaviors of bismuth(III) with carboxylic acid (HL), which have not yet been clearly elucidated, because of the precipitation of hydroxide, were studied using the 2-bromoalkanoic acid in benzene and in hexane systems under aqueous conditions of high acidity at I = 1.0 M ((H,Li)NO3). The extraction equilibria were analyzed based on the-initial concentration of nitric acid and the concentration of bismuth(III) extracted in the organic phase. The extracted species and the logarithmic values of the extraction constant (log Kex) were found to be a single species of BiL3(HL)3 for the systems of 2-bromooctanoic acid/benzene (log Kex = -1.66) and 2-bromohexadecanoic acid/benzene (-1.58), and to be two species of BiL3(HL)4 (-1.01) and Bi3L9HL (-1.62) for the system of 2-bromooctanoic acid/hexane, where the monomer was dominant at a higher reagent concentration.