Abstract
The work presented during this thesis is part of the study for the reprocessing of nuclear fuel. This study mainly focused on the N,N-dialkylamides (monoamides) ligands, this type of molecule is a promising substitution for the TBP which is currently used in the PUREX process for the recycling of uranium and plutonium. The main goal is to show the influence of the stereochemistry of the extractant molecule on the extraction performances.Over the last few years, the importance of chirality within the industry has been growing. A certain number of studies have shown that the stereochemistry of the extractant molecule can impact the performances of the extraction, this behavior has been demonstrated on different extractants such as ter pyridine, ether crown or even diglycolamides. The aim of the present study is to confirm that the same conduct is applied to monoamides extractants. Different synthesis methodologies have been investigated in order to obtain different enantiopure molecules possessing –(2-ethylhexyl) alkyl chains. Subsequently, two extractants monoamides have been synthesized and studied in extraction conditions with the purpose of evaluating the influence of chirality over the extraction of uranium and plutonium. Both of those extractants have shown an influence for the extraction of plutonium. However, it appears that this influence might be dependent on the type of coordination applied during the complexation of the metal.