Abstract
The extraction behavior of cadmium and zinc with methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl xanthates into chloroform was studied spectrophotometrically. It was found that the extracted species were the type of M (xanthate)2 in all cases. In addition, the overall formation constants and the distribution constants for these complexes were determined. In the systems of methyl and ethyl xanthates, the water-soluble complexes having a formula of M (xanthate)-3 were formed in the presence of a large excess of xanthate. The stability of M (xanthate)2 increased in the order methyl< ethyl < propyl < butyl xanthate, and a linear free energy relationship was observed between the basicity (pKa) of xanthate and the stability (log β2) of complex.
