A new sensitive and specific test for vanadium with sulphosalicylic acid

A very sensitive and specific test for vanadium^V is described using sulphosalicylic acid as reagent. When this reagent is brought into contact with solid vanadium^V (a drop of the test solution evaporated to dryness on a watch glass) in the presence of concentrated sulphuric acid or 80% syrupy phosphoric acid, a blue colour is developed. Using this colour reaction, it is possible to detect 0.05 μg of vanadium^V in 0.05 ml of test solution. Aluminium^III, arsenic^V, beryllium^II, cadmium^II, chromium^III, chromium^VI, copper^II, iron^III, molybdenum^VI, nickel^VI, tungsten^VI, uranium^VI and vanadium^IV do not interfere with this colour test, although some of them are known to form coloured complexes with sulphosalicylic acid under different conditions. Reducing agents like iron^II, uranium^IV, molybdenum^V and hydroquinone discharge the colour. The colour of the vanadium^V-sulphosalicylic acid compound is also discharged if the temperature is raised to 60°, though it reappears on cooling.     

A new oxidimetric reagent: potassium dichromate in a strong phosphoric acid medium—I Titrimetr1c determination of manganese

A new method has been developed for the direct titrimetric determination of manganese^II, depending on its oxidation to manganese^III with potassium dichromate at room temperature in a strong phosphoric acid medium using a potentiometric or photometric endpoint. Oxygen of the air does not interfere. The potentiometric method gives results to an accuracy within ± 0.3% for 20–150 mg of manganese/50 ml of titration solution; with the photometric method 5–17 mg of manganese/40 ml of titration solution can be determined with an error of 0.3–1.0% depending on the amount present. Potassium dichromate in 12.0M phosphoric acid has a formal redox potential of about 1.5 V and this reagent appears to have great possibilities in titrimetric analysis.     

New redox systems—V Oxidation of uranium with iron in 1,10-phenanthroline solutions indirect colorimetric determination of uranium

The oxidation of uranium^IV with iron^III in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline has been studied both potentiometrically and colorimetrically. Suitable conditions for the indirect colorimetric determination of uranium via ferroïn have been found.     

Cerimetric determination of uranium Use of triphenylmethane dyes as internal indicators

The use of the triphenylmethane dyes (erioglaucine, eriogreen, and xylene cynol FF) as internal indicators in the cerimetric titration of uranium^IV has been investigated. The titration is possible in the cold with sufficient rapidity and accuracy, the indicator colour change appearing sharply at the equivalence point. The indicator reactions are rapid and reversible within a wide range of acidity, from 0.5N to 8.0N, unlike other indicators, e.g. diphenylbenzidine, -phenylanth-ranilic acid or ferroïn, which require specified conditions for their proper functioning. These indicators can also beused for titration of uranium^IV with eerie ammonium nitrate in perchloric acid medium (but not in nitric acid medium).     

Direkte komplexometrische eisenbestimmung mit xylenolorange als indikator

The complexometric determination of iron^III, based on a new end-point procedure, has been developed. Xylenol orange was used as the indicator. This forms a stable violet-blue complex. By the addition of iron^II to the titrated solution the usual displacement reaction at the end-point of the titration is replaced by a redox process which gives a very sharp end-point. The new procedure makes possible an accurate and very selective determination of iron^III. Only bismuth, thallium^III and large amounts of copper require to be removed before the titration.

Résumé

L'auteur décrit un dosage par complexométrie du fer(III), basé sur un nouveau procédé de détermination du point équivalent. On utilise comme indicateur l'orangé de xylénol qui forme un complexe violet-bleu stable. En ajoutant du fer(II) à la solution à titrer, la réaction de déplacement usuelle au point équivalent du titrage est remplacée par un processus d'oxydoréduction qui donne un point équivalent très net. Ce nouveau procédé rend possible un dosage du fer(III) précis et très sélectif. Seuls le bismuth, le thallium(III) et de grandes quantités de cuivre doivent être séparés avant le titrage.     

Simultaneous separation and preconcentration of trace elements in water samples by coprecipitation on manganese dioxide using D-glucose as reductant for KMnO(4)

A field oriented and economical method of coprecipitation of trace elements like Al, Au, Bi, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni, Pb, Pd, Ti, V, W, Zn and REE has been developed. A novel reductant D-glucose, reduces KMnO₄ in solution to form a precipitate of MnO_2. Two liters of clear natural water sample is adjusted to pH 3.5–4.0, and is treated with 10 ml of 1% KMnO₄ and 20 ml of 0.1% D-glucose. The sample is heated at a temperature of 75–80 °C, MnO₂ is formed which coprecipitates the above trace elements. The precipitate is separated by filtration, dissolved in 2 ml of 50% HCl and 2 ml of 30% H₂O₂ and diluted to 25 ml for analysis using AAS and ICP-AES. The recoveries were found to be 96–105%. The preconcentration factor is 80. Limits of determination by the proposed method in natural waters are 1 μg l⁻¹ for Al, Cd, Mo, V, W, Ti and Zn, 5 μg l⁻¹ for Au, Bi, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Pd and 8 μg l⁻¹ for REE. The RSD of the present procedure (n=5) is 8% at 5 μg l⁻¹ level. Twenty water samples can be analyzed by an analyst in an 8-h day.     

Sequential injection redox or acid-base titration for determination of ascorbic acid or acetic acid

Two sequential injection titration systems with spectrophotometric detection have been developed. The first system for determination of ascorbic acid was based on redox reaction between ascorbic acid and permanganate in an acidic medium and lead to a decrease in color intensity of permanganate, monitored at 525 nm. A linear dependence of peak area obtained with ascorbic acid concentration up to 1200 mg l⁻¹ was achieved. The relative standard deviation for 11 replicate determinations of 400 mg l⁻¹ ascorbic acid was 2.9%. The second system, for acetic acid determination, was based on acid–base titration of acetic acid with sodium hydroxide using phenolphthalein as an indicator. The decrease in color intensity of the indicator was proportional to the acid content. A linear calibration graph in the range of 2–8% w v⁻¹ of acetic acid with a relative standard deviation of 4.8% (5.0% w v⁻¹ acetic acid, n=11) was obtained. Sample throughputs of 60 h⁻¹ were achieved for both systems. The systems were successfully applied for the assays of ascorbic acid in vitamin C tablets and acetic acid content in vinegars, respectively.     

Ferrimetric determination of molybdenum(V) using rhodamine 6G as fluorescent indicator

Summary Molybdenum(V) can be titrated successfully with ferric ammonium sulphate solution in hydrochloric acid medium (2.5 N to 3.0 N) at 98–100° C using Rhodamine 6G as fluorescent indicator. Vanadium(IV) does not interfere in concentrations up to 0.75 mg-equivalents per 30 ml. Uranium (IV) and reduced tungsten are also oxidised and therefore interfere with the determination.

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Zusammenfassung Molybdän(V) kann mit gutem Erfolg mit Eisen(III)-ammonium-sulfatlösung in salzsaurem Medium titriert werden, wenn man Rhodamin 6 G als Fluorescenzindicator benutzt und die Titration bei 98–100° C durchführt. Vanadium(IV) stört nicht in Konzentrationen bis zu 0,75 mg-Äq./30 ml. Uran(IV) und reduziertes Wolfram verursachen Störungen, da sie auch oxydiert werden.

     

An on-line flow-injection microwave-assisted mineralization and a precipitation/dissolution system for the determination of molybdenum in blood serum and whole blood by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

An on-line flow injection (FI) precipitation–dissolution system with microwave-assisted sample digestion has been developed for the electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) determination of trace or ultratrace amounts of molybdenum in human blood serum and whole blood samples. After the exposure of the sample to microwave radiation, the on-line precipitation of molybdenum was achieved by the merging-zone of a 0.5-ml plug of sample with a plug of potassium ferrocyanide, which were carried downstream with a solution of 0.5 mol l⁻¹ of HNO₃. The interfering effects of iron and copper were minimized by the introduction of a flow of a 5% (w/v) sodium potassium tartrate (for iron) and 2% (w/v) of thiourea (for copper and zinc) in a 5% (v/v) ammonia and 2% (v/v) ammonium chloride solution previous to the precipitation reaction. The reddish-brown precipitate of molybdenyl ferrocyanide was collected on the walls of a knotted reactor. The precipitate was dissolved with the introduction of 1 ml of a 3.0 mol l⁻¹ NaOH solution and the best performance in terms of detection limit and precision was achieved when a sub-sample of 140 μl was collected in a capillary of a sampling arm assembly, to introduce 20 μl volumes into the atomizer by means of positive displacement with air through a time-based injector. A detection limit (3σ) of 0.1 μg Mo l⁻¹ using an aqueous standard solution was obtained. The method is quantitative and is applied over the range 0.2–20.0 μg Mo l⁻¹. The precision of the method evaluated by ten replicate analyses of aqueous standard solutions containing 0.5 and 1.0 μg Mo l⁻¹ was 2.8 and 3.1% (relative standard deviation, RSD) (for n=5), respectively. Whereas, the precision evaluated by five replicate analysis of a serum and a whole blood sample were 3.3 and 3.8% RSD. An enrichment factor of ca. 3.5 was achieved with the introduction of 0.5 ml aqueous standard solutions at a sample flow rate of 1.0 ml min⁻¹. Recoveries of spiked molybdenum in blood serum and whole blood were in the ranges 96–102 and 94–98%, respectively. The results obtained for two human whole blood certified reference materials were in good agreement with the indicative values.     

Lead ion selective PVC membrane electrode based on 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid)

A PVC membrane electrode for lead ions based on 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) as membrane carrier was prepared. The electrode exhibits a Nernstian response for Pb²⁺ over a wide concentration range (1.0×10⁻²–4.0×10⁻⁶ M). It has a relatively fast response time and can be used for at least 3 months without any divergence in potentials. The proposed electrode revealed good selectivities for Pb²⁺ over a wide variety of other metal ions and could be used in a pH range of 2.0–7.0. It was used as an indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of lead ions and in direct determination of lead in water samples.     

New aspects of the reaction of silver(I) cations with the ethylenediaminetetraacetate ion

The highly neutralized ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) titrant (95–99% as Y⁴⁻ anion) precipitates with Ag⁺ cations to form the Ag₄Y species, in aqueous medium, which is well characterized from conductometric titration, thermal analysis and potentiometric titration of the silver content of the solid. The precipitate dissolves in excess Y⁴⁻ to form a complex, AgY³⁻. Equilibrium studies at 25°C and ionic strength 0.50 M (NaNO₃) have shown from solubility and potentiometric measurements that the formation constant (95% confidence level) β₁ = (1.93 ± 0.07) × 10⁵ M⁻¹ and the solubility products are K_S0 = [Ag +]⁴[Y⁴⁻] = (9.0 ± 0.4) × 10⁻¹⁸ M⁵ and K_S1 = [Ag +]³[AgY³⁻] = (1.74 ± 0.08) × 10⁻¹² M⁴. The presence of Na⁺, rather than ionic strength, markedly affects the equilibrium; the data at ionic strength 0.10 M are: β₁ = (1.19 ± 0.03) × 10⁶ M⁻¹, K_S0 = (1.6 ± 0.4) × 10⁻¹⁹ M⁵ and K_S1 = (1.9 ± 0.5) × 10⁻¹³ M⁴; at ionic strength tending to zero; β₁ = (1.82 ± 0.05) × 10⁷ M⁻¹, K_S0 = (2.6 ± 0.8) × 10⁻²² M⁵ and K_S1 = (5 ± 1) × 10⁻¹⁵ M⁴. The intrinsic solubility is 2.03 mM silver (I) in 0.50 M NaNO₃. Well-defined potentiometric titration curves can be taken in the range 1–2 mM with the Ag indicator electrode. Thermal analysis revealed from differential scanning calorimetry a sharp exothermic peak at 142°C; thermal gravimetry/differential thermal gravimetry has shown mass loss due to silver formation and a brown residue, a water-soluble polymeric acid (decomposition range 135–157°C), tending to pure silver at 600°C, consistent with the original Ag₄Y salt.     

Determination of iron(III) with salicylic acid by the fluorescence quenching method

The spectrofluorimetric determination of Fe³⁺ using salicylic acid as an emission reagent has been investigated by measuring the decrease of fluorescence intensity of salicylic acid due to the complexation of Fe³⁺–salicylic acid. An emission peak of salicylic acid, which is decreased linearly by addition of Fe³⁺, occurs at 409 nm in aqueous solution with excitation at 299 nm. The determination of the ferric ion is in the range 1×10⁻⁶–10×10⁻⁶ M Fe³⁺ (0.0558–0.558 μg/ml) and the detection limit is 5×10⁻⁸ M. The quenching effect of Fe³⁺ on the fluorescence intensity of salicylic acid may be considered on the basis of complexation between salicylic acid and Fe³⁺. The effects of foreign ions were investigated.     

Sensitive spectrophotometric determination of traces of zirconium with 2-(6-bromo-2-benzothiazolylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol in the presence of sodium lauryl sulphate

A simple and highly sensitive procedure for spectrophotometric determination of zirconium has been developed. At pH 4.6, zirconium reacts with 2-(6-bromo-2-benzothiazolylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol in the presence of sodium lauryl sulphate to form a red-violet complex, which has an absorption maximum at 520 nm. The molar absorptivity at 520 nm is 4.4 × 10⁵ 1.mole⁻¹ .cm⁻¹. Beer's law is obeyed for 0.25–1.50 μg of zirconium in 25 ml of solution. The method has been used in the determination of zirconium in aluminium alloy and steel samples.     

Efficiency and mechanism of new poly(acryl-phenylamidrazone phenylhydrazide) chelating fiber for adsorbing trace Ga, In, Bi, V and Ti from solution

A new po1y(acrylphenylamidrazone phenylhydrazide) chelating fiber is synthesized from polyacrylonitrile fiber and used for preconcentration and separation of trace Ga(III), In(III), Bi(III), V(V) and Ti(IV) from solution (5–50 ng ml⁻¹ Ti(IV) or V(V) and 50–500 ng ml⁻¹ Ga(III), In (III) or Bi(III) in 1000–100 ml of solution can be enriched quantitatively by 0.15 g of fiber at a 4 ml min⁻¹ flow rate in the pH range 5–7 with recoveries >95%). These ions can be desorbed quantitatively with 20 ml of 4 M hydrochloric acid at 2 ml min⁻¹ from the fiber column. When the fiber which had been treated with concentrated hydrochloric acid and washed with distilled water until neutral was reused eight times, the recoveries of the above ions by enrichment were still >95%. Two-hundred-fold to 10 000-fold excesses of Cu(II), Zn(II), Ca(II), Mn(II), Cr(III), Fe(III), Ba(II) and Al(III) caused little interference in the determination of these ions by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometers (ICP-AES). The relative standard deviations for enrichment and determination of 50 ng ml⁻¹ Ga, In or Bi and 10 ng ml⁻¹ V or Ti are in the range 1.2–2.7%. The contents of these ions in real solution samples determined by this method were in agreement with the certified values of the samples with average errors <3.7%.     

Conformational stability of 1-pentyne from temperature dependent FT-IR spectra of liquid rare gas solutions and ab initio calculations

Variable temperature studies of the infrared spectra (3500–400 cm⁻¹) of 1-pentyne, CH₃CH₂CH₂CCH, dissolved in liquid xenon (−55 to −100°C) and liquid krypton (−105 to −150°C) have been recorded. These data indicate that the anti (methyl group trans to the acetylenic group) and gauche conformers have relative concentrations that vary with the temperature, i.e. enthalpy nonzero. Utilizing seven sets of conformer pairs for the xenon solution and ten sets of conformer pairs for the krypton solution, the enthalpy difference has been determined to be 50±6 cm⁻¹ (0.60±0.07 kJ/mol) and 45±4 cm⁻¹ (0.54±0.05 kJ/mol), respectively, with the anti conformer the more stable form. Because of two equivalent gauche forms, this conformer is estimated to be in higher abundance at 61±1% in the xenon solution and 62±1% in the krypton solution. Optimized geometries and conformational stabilities have been obtained from ab initio calculations with basis sets 6-31G(d), 6-311+G(d,p), 6-311+G(2d,2p) and 6-311+G(2df,2pd) with full electron correlation by the perturbation method to second order (MP2). All of the calculations predict the gauche rotamer to be the more stable form with a high value of 181 cm⁻¹ from the MP2/6-311+G(d,p) calculations and a low value of 107 cm⁻¹ from the MP2/6-311+G(2d,2p) calculation. The r_o adjusted structural parameters have been obtained from a combination of the microwave rotational constants and ab initio predicted parameters. The values are compared to the recently reported values from an electron diffraction study where the value for the CC bond distance appears to be too long. The results are discussed and the conformational stability is compared to those obtained for some similar molecules.     

Fast and highly selective determination of cyanide with 2,2-dihydroxy-1,3-indanedione

A very simple, accurate, fast, selective and sensitive assay of cyanide based on its reaction with 2,2-dihydroxy-l,3-indanedione at basic pH is proposed. As little as 0.01 μg ml⁻¹ of cyanide can be determined. The molar absorptivity may reach 5.1–8.0×10⁴ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ depending on the reaction conditions. Thus, 1 ml of sample solution is mixed with 500 μl of 5 mg ml⁻¹ solution of 2,2-dihydroxy-1,3-indanedione monohydrate in 2% sodium carbonate. The absorbance of the purple color is measured at 510 nm in 1-cm glass cuvettes, 10–15 min after mixing the reagents. The procedure could also be used to identify free CN⁻ in natural waters and hydrocyanic acid in the environment.     

Investigation of the use of B3LYP zero-point energies and geometries in the calculation of enthalpies of formation

The use of B3LYP/6–31G^* zero-point energies and geometries in the calculation of enthalpies of formation has been investigated for the enlarged G2 test set of 148 molecules [J. Chem. Phys. 106 (1997) 1063]. A scale factor of 0.96 for the B3LYP zero-point energies gives an average absolute deviation nearly the same as scaled HF/6–31G^* zero-point energies for G2, G2(MP2), and B3LYP/6–311 + G(3df,2p) enthalpies. A scale factor of 0.98, which has been recommended in some studies, increases the average absolute deviation by about 0.2 kcal/mol. Geometries from B3LYP/6–31G^* are found to do as well as MP2/6–31G^* geometries in the calculation of the enthalpies of formation.     

Structure and conformational properties of carbonylbisimidosulfuryl fluoride, O=C(N=S(O)F2)2

The molecular structure and conformational properties of O=C(N=S(O)F₂)₂ (carbonylbisimidosulfuryl fluoride) were determined by gas electron diffraction (GED) and quantumchemical calculations (HF/3-21G* and B3LYP/6-31G*). The analysis of the GED intensities resulted in a mixture of 76(12)% syn–syn and 24(12)% syn–anti conformer (ΔH⁰=H⁰(syn–anti)−H⁰(syn–syn)=1.11(32) kcal mol⁻¹) which is in agreement with the interpretation of the IR spectra (68(5)% syn–syn and 32(5)% syn–anti, ΔH⁰=0.87(11) kcal mol⁻¹). syn and anti describe the orientation of the S=N bonds relative to the C=O bond. In both conformers the S=O bonds of the two N=S(O)F₂ groups are trans to the C–N bonds. According to the theoretical calculations, structures with cis orientation of an S=O bond with respect to a C–N bond do not correspond to minima on the energy hyperface. The HF/3-21G* approximation predicts preference of the syn–anti structure (ΔE=−0.11 kcal mol⁻¹) and the B3LYP/6-31G* method results in an energy difference (ΔE=1.85 kcal mol⁻¹) which is slightly larger than the experimental values. The following geometric parameters for the O=C(N=S)₂ skeleton were derived (r_a values with 3σ uncertainties): C=O 1.193 (9) Å, C–N 1.365 (9) Å, S=N 1.466 (5) Å, O=C–N 125.1 (6)° and C–N=S 125.3 (10)°. The geometric parameters are reproduced satisfactorily by the HF/3-21G* approximation, except for the C–N=S angle which is too large by ca. 6°. The B3LYP method predicts all bonds to be too long by 0.02–0.05 Å and the C–N=S angle to be too small by ca. 4°.     

Novel approaches to analysis by flow injection gradient titration

Two novel procedures for flow injection gradient titration with the use of a single stock standard solution are proposed. In the multi-point single-line (MP-SL) method the calibration graph is constructed on the basis of a set of standard solutions, which are generated in a standard reservoir and subsequently injected into the titrant. According to the single-point multi-line (SP-ML) procedure the standard solution and a sample are injected into the titrant stream from four loops of different capacities, hence four calibration graphs are able to be constructed and the analytical result is calculated on the basis of a generalized slope of these graphs. Both approaches have been tested on the example of spectrophotometric acid–base titration of hydrochloric and acetic acids with using bromothymol blue and phenolphthalein as indicators, respectively, and sodium hydroxide as a titrant. Under optimized experimental conditions the analytical results of precision less than 1.8 and 2.5% (RSD) and of accuracy less than 3.0 and 5.4% (relative error (RE)) were obtained for MP-SL and SP-ML procedures, respectively, in ranges of 0.0031–0.0631 mol L⁻¹ for samples of hydrochloric acid and of 0.1680–1.7600 mol L⁻¹ for samples of acetic acid. The feasibility of both methods was illustrated by applying them to the total acidity determination in vinegar samples with precision lower than 0.5 and 2.9% (RSD) for MP-SL and SP-ML procedures, respectively.     

Selective determination of airborne hexavalent chromium using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A new method for determining ultra-trace levels of hexavalent chromium in ambient air has been developed. The method involves a 24-h sampling of air into potassium hydroxide solution, followed by silica gel column separation of chromium (VI), then preconcentration by complexation and solvent extraction. The chromium (VI) complex was dissolved in nitric acid. The resultant chromium ions were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) using a dynamic reaction cell (DRC) with ammonia as the reactive gas to reduce polyatomic interferences. The interconversion of chromium in potassium hydroxide solution and air sample matrix were investigated under ambient conditions. It was found that there was no conversion of chromium (VI) into chromium (III) species. However, it was observed that some chromium (III) species were converted into chromium (VI) species. For a KOH solution containing 100 μg l⁻¹ of chromium (III) species, the rate of conversion was found to be 3% after 24 h exposure, 8% after 48 h, 10% after 72 h and no further conversion was observed thereafter. However, in a solution containing air sample matrix, 9.3% of chromium (III) converted to chromium (VI) within 6 h, and during the course of a 11-day exposure period, 13% (range 8–17%) of chromium (III) converted to chromium (VI). The method detection limit (MDL) for chromium (VI) in potassium hydroxide solution (0.025 M) was found to be 2×10⁻² μg l⁻¹. This is equivalent to 0.2 ng m⁻³ (for 23 m³ air sampled into 200 ml of KOH solution over a 24-h period). The recovery of spiked chromium (VI) from solutions containing air sample matrix was 95±9% (n=8). Matrix related interferences were estimated to be less than 10% based on recovery studies. The concentration of airborne chromium (VI) in Sydney residential areas was found to be less than 0.2 ng m⁻³, however, in industrial areas the concentrations ranged from 0.2 to 1.3 ng m⁻³ using this analytical procedure.