Chelating resins are a class of

ion-exchange resin An ion-exchange resin or ion-exchange polymer is a resin or polymer that acts as a medium for ion exchange. It is an insoluble matrix (or support structure) normally in the form of small (0.25–1.43 mm radius) microbeads, usually white or ye ...

s. They are almost always used to bind cations, and utilize chelating agents covalently attached to a polymer matrix. Chelating resins have the same bead form and polymer matrix as usual ion exchangers. Their main use is for pre-concentration of metal ions in a dilute solution. Chelating ion-exchange resins are used for brine decalcification in the chlor-alkali industry, the removal of boron from potable water, and the recovery of precious metals in solutions.

Properties and structure

Chelating resins operate similarly to ordinary ion-exchange resins. Most chelating resins are polymers (copolymers to be precise) with reactive functional groups that chelate to metal ions. The variation in chelating resins arises from the nature of the chelating agents pendant from the polymer backbone. Dowex chelating resin A-1, also known as Chelex 100, is based on

iminodiacetic acid Iminodiacetic acid is the organic compound with the formula HN(CH2CO2H)2, often abbreviated to IDA. A white solid, the compound is a dicarboxylic acid amine (the nitrogen atom forms a secondary amino group, not an imino group as the name suggests) ...

in a styrene-divinylbenzene matrix. Dowex A-1 is available commercially and is widely used to determine general properties of chelating resins such as rate determining step and pH dependence, etc. Dowex A-1 is produced from chloromethylated styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer via amination with aminodiacetic acid. Poly metal chelating resin has almost negligible affinity to both alkali and alkaline earth metals; small quantities of resin can be utilized to concentrate trace metals in natural water systems or biological fluids, in which there are three or four orders of magnitude greater alkali and alkaline earth metal concentration than the trace metal concentrations. Other functional groups bound to chelating resins are aminophosphonic acids,

thiourea Thiourea () is an organosulfur compound with the formula and the structure . It is structurally similar to urea (), except that the oxygen atom is replaced by a sulfur atom (as implied by the ''thio-'' prefix); however, the properties of urea ...

, and

2-picolylamine 2-Picolylamine is an organic compound with the formula H2NCH2C5H4N. A colorless liquid, it is a common bidentate ligand and a precursor to more complex multidentate ligands such as tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine. It is usually prepared by hydrogenat ...

Application in heavy metal remediation

Soil contaminated with heavy metals including radionuclides is mitigated primarily using chelating resins. Chelating polymers (

s) were proposed for maintenance therapy of pathologies accompanied by iron accumulation, such as

hereditary hemochromatosis Hereditary haemochromatosis type 1 (HFE-related Hemochromatosis) is a genetic disorder characterized by excessive intestinal absorption of dietary iron, resulting in a pathological increase in total body iron stores. Humans, like most animals, h ...

(

iron overload Iron overload or hemochromatosis (also spelled ''haemochromatosis'' in British English) indicates increased total accumulation of iron in the body from any cause and resulting organ damage. The most important causes are hereditary haemochromatosi ...

) or

Wilson's disease Wilson's disease is a genetic disorder in which excess copper builds up in the body. Symptoms are typically related to the brain and liver. Liver-related symptoms include vomiting, weakness, fluid build up in the abdomen, swelling of the legs, ...

( copper overload), by chelating the metal ions in GIT and thus limiting its biological availability.

References

Additional resources

# Yang, Dong, Xijun Chang, Yongwen Liu, and Sui Wang. "Synthesis and Efficiency of a Spherical Macroporous Epoxy-Polyamide Chelating Resin for Preconcentrating and Separating Trace Noble Metal Ions." Annali di Chimica 95.1-2 (2005): 111-14. # Zougagh, Mohammed, J. M. Cano Pav N, and A. Garcia De Torres. "Chelating Sorbents Based on Silica Gel and Their Application in Atomic Spectrometry." Anal Bioanal Chem Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 381.6 (2005): 1103-113. # R. R. Greenberg" and H. M. Kingston. “Trace Element Analysis of Natural Water Samples by Neutron Activation Analysis with Chelating Resin.” Center for Analytical Chemistry, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C. 20234. #. Analytical chemistry Polymers Resins Chelating agents {{chemistry-stub