Redox-Driven Chelation and Kinetic Separation of Select Rare Earths Using a Tripodal Nitroxide Proligand

Separation of the rare-earth (RE) elements (Sc, Y, La-Lu) is challenging because of their similar chemical properties, but is necessary for their applications in renewable energy and electronic device technologies. The development of separation processes driven by kinetic factors represents a new area for this field. Herein, we disclose a novel method of separating select rare earths by reacting RE cyclopentadienides with the triradical species tris(2-tert-butylnitroxyl)benzylamine (1). The key proligand 1 was characterized using a variety of techniques including X-ray crystallography, magnetometry, and EPR spectroscopy. When applied to an equimolar mixture of La:Y cyclopentadienide complexes, different rates of chelation of these organometallic precursors by 1 were observed, affording a separation factor of 26 under the reported conditions.