The ability to selectively extract actinides out of nuclear waste remains a hot research topic. Today Hancock, from Wilmington, gave a presentation on several tetradentate ligands that bind to actinides more strongly than other smaller metals.  The systems he investigated are shown below.

The PDA ( system was highlighted for its rigidity, fluorescent potential, and the size of its cavity. Some formation data below.

These types of systems look promising and is a nice upgrade over traditional old-school extractors like Tributylphosphate(TBP).

Much of the talk was covered in this recent paper: Affinity of the Highly Preorganized Ligand PDA…

Mitch

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