Catalytic metal recovery from non-polar organic solutions

摘要

A method for recovering a transition metal, e.g., rhodium, from a non-polar organic solution containing non-polar organic solvent-soluble and polar solvent-insoluble coordination complex of the transition metal and a non-polar organic solvent-soluble and polar solvent-insoluble ligand, e.g., an organophosphorus ligand, by contacting the non-polar organic solution with a polar solution of an ionic organophosphine ligand. The transition metal then can be transferred back into a non-polar organic solution for reuse. In one embodiment rhodium is rendered amenable for back-extraction by treating the polar solution with a suitable conditioning reagent.