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The complexation of Cm(III) and Eu(III) with 2,6-di(5,6-dipropyl-1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)pyridine (n-C3H7-BTP) in nonaqueous organic solution is studied with extended X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Bond lengths are the same in both complexes. Quantum-chemical calculations performed at different levels support this finding. On the other hand, the Cm.(n-C3H7-BTP)3 complex is formed at much lower ligand-to-metal concentration ratio than the Eu.(n-C3H7-BTP)3 complex, as shown by time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. This is in good agreement with n-C3H7-BTP's high selectivity for trivalent actinides over lanthanides in liquid-liquid extraction.

Selected soft N-donor ligands are highly effective extractants for the separation of trivalent actinides (An(III)) from lanthanides (Ln(III)) in the partitioning and transmutation (P&T) strategy. Comparative structural investigations using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS) on An(III) and Ln(III) complexed with tris[(2-pyrazinyl)methyl]amine (TPZA) and 2,6-di(5,6-dipropyl-1,2,4triazin-3-yl)pyridine (BTP) are performed in order to evaluate if ligand extraction performance is reflected in coordination structure differences, specifically in variations in the metal cationeN bond lengths. We observe U(III) to generally exhibit a decrease in the bond distance over that expected for pure ionic binding for the ligand complexes investigated and interpret this as higher covalent character of the U(III)eN binding. In contrast, no measurable differences for Am(III), Cm(III), and the Ln(III) elements in the middle of the 4f series are observed. Time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy (TRLFS) investigations on solution BTP complexed with Cm(III) and Eu(III) reveal that the selective extraction behavior of this ligand can be explained by the large difference in conditional stability constants of their 1:3 complexes (K 13 ). The K 13 value for CmeBTP 3 is a number of orders of magnitude larger than that for EueBTP 3 .

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