Patent ID: 7585475

Claim:
A method of forming an extraction reagent formulation comprising: providing a substantially water-immiscible solvent; adding to said solvent one or more phenolic oxime extraction reagents and at least one additive compound selected from the group consisting of (e) combinations of two or more of these; wherein R 1 is a selected from the group consisting of straight- or branched-chain alkyl or alkenyl containing 1-to-20 carbon atoms, C 6 -aryl, and C 7 -C 18 -alkylaryl; and R 2 , R 3 and R 5 are independently selected from the group consisting of H, straight- or branched-chain alkyl or alkenyl containing 1-to-20 carbon atoms, a C 6 -aryl, and C 7 -C 18 -alkylaryl, with the proviso that the total number of carbon atoms in R 2 and R 3 for (a) and (b) is about 9 to about 30; and the total number of carbon atoms in R 2 , R 3 and R 5 for (c) and (d) is about 9 to about 30, wherein the resulting extraction reagent formulation has higher conductivity than the corresponding formulation without said additive.