Determination of palladium, platinum and gold by first derivative spectrophotometry

Summary The application of first-derivative spectrometry to the simultaneous determination of palladium(II), platinum(IV) and gold(III) is described. Light absorption of stable chlorocomplexes formed in 1 mol/l hydrochloric acid provides the basis of their determinations. A difference in the derivative amplitudes between two first-derivative zero crossing points of one metal A is read, corrected for the contribution of metal B and used for quantitation of metal C. Palladium (0.48–20 g ml^–1), platinum (0.16–24 g ml^–1) and gold (0.32–24 g ml^–1) have been determined with good precision and accuracy without any separations. Results are also presented for the simultaneous determination of the three precious metals in the presence of several major constituents.