LiCl recovery with a one-point-enhanced crown ether as an efficient phase-transfer agent.

Authors

Olivier Thillaye du Boullay, Cristóbal Schweikart, Emilio Bunel, Nathalie Saffon-Merceron, Antoine Baceiredo, Tsuyoshi Kato, René S Rojas

Published in

Dalton transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003). Aug 21, 2026. Epub Aug 21, 2026.

Abstract

Efficient LiCl recovery directly from natural resources remains challenging due to the strong hydration of Li⁺ and the high lattice energy of crystalline LiCl. Solid-state extraction of LiCl requires efficient extractants capable of forming stable LiCl complexes that can be selectively separated from solid matrices. Here we report that phosphine oxide-containing crown ether 1 acts as a flexible one-point-enhanced extractant capable of selectively extracting LiCl from mixtures of alkali metal chlorides. The capture process is supported by a PO donor site embedded within the crown ether framework, providing a coordination environment suitable for selective LiCl recognition. Importantly, the resulting 1-LiCl complex undergoes rapid release of LiCl into water under mild conditions. This ambivalent capture-release behavior enables selective LiCl phase transfer from solid mixtures into water and provides a molecular platform for reversible lithium chloride recognition and release.

PMID:
42627226
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 21 Aug 2026.

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