Copper Extraction from Aqueous Solution by Pentaerythrityl Tetrabenzylamine

Copper-bearing raw materials are often subjected to organic solvents with main ligands as their water insoluble amine complexes. In most cases, selective extraction is a more economical and practical method because it requires simple equipment and fewer stages than other methods described in the literature1−4. Solvent extraction enjoys a favored position among the separation techniques because of its ease, simplicity, speed and wide scope. Utilizing an apparatus no more complicated than a separatory funnel, requiring several minutes at the most to perform, and applicable both to trace and macro levels of metals, these extraction procedures offer much to the analytical chemist. The development of selective extractants has expanded the use of solvent extraction for metal recovery and purification, replacing, in some situations, pyrometallorgical techniques. The design of a solvent extraction process and its optimization requires a ∗To whom correspondence should be addressed