Electrochemical Study of Iodide in the Presence of Barbituric Acid: Application to the Catalytic Determination of Barbituric Acid

Electrochemical oxidation of iodide has been studied in the presence of barbituric acid using cyclic voltammetry and controlled-potential coulometry. The results indicate that the barbituric acid participating in the halogenation reaction converts to an iodo derivative of the parent compound. Moreover, the results are indicative of the suitability of iodide as a mediator for the determination of barbituric acid in aqueous solutions. The quasicatalytic peak current is linearly dependent on the barbituric acid concentration. The calibration graph is parabolic, with two linear sections of 6.0 × 10^–5–1.0 × 10^–3and 1.0 × 10^–3–1.0 × 10^–2M. The relative standard deviation for ten determinations of 2.0 × 10^–4M barbituric acid is 2.1%, and the detection limit of the method is 3.97 × 10^–5M.