Synthesis and studies on extraction of actinides by alicyclic H-phosphonates

Monodentate organophosphorous compounds are successfully used for the isolation of uranium and plutonium from the spent nuclear fuel. Applications of monodentate H-phosphonates have increased in biology, agriculture and chemistry over recent years. In the present work, the extraction behavior of actinides was investigated by three homologues of alicyclic H-phosphonates viz. Dicyclopentylhydrogen phosphonate (DCyPeHP), dicyclohexylhydrogen phosphonate (DCyHeHP) and dimenthylhydrogen phosphonate (DMnHP).The present study has been taken up to understand the effect of alicyclic ring substituents on the extraction behavior of actinides. Extraction studies of thorium and uranium were carried out using 0.5M solution of H-phosphonates in n-dodecane at 303K. These compounds were synthesized by reacting corresponding alicyclic alcohols with phosphorous (III) chloride under solvent free conditions at room temperature for 4 hours and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques like IR, ¹H and ³¹P NMR. The important physicochemical properties such as density, viscosity, dielectric constant, and solubility are studied