Separation of methacrylicacid from aqueous phase using quaternary amine

The feasibility of extractive reaction of methacrylic acid from aqueous solution using a quaternary amine, Tri–OctylMethyl Ammonium Chloride (TOMAC) as an extractant, was studied. The diluents chosen in the present study belong to different chemical classes, including n–butyl acetate, carbon tetrachloride, isoamyl alcohol, methyl isobutyl ketone, and toluene. The effect of initial acid concentration in the aqueous phase, and initial extractant concentration in the organic phase was studied. The performances of physical and reactive extraction of individual diluents were reported in terms of overall distribution coefficient, overall loading ratios, and stoichiometric loading ratios. The maximum extractability was observed in case of methyl isobutyl ketone, while the minimum with carbon tetrachloride. The remarkable feature of Linear Solvation Energy Relationship (LSER) modelling is that it takes into account physical interactions. To check the accuracy of the experimental observations, they were correlated with the LSER modelling parameters, and a fairly good agreement was observed between them.