Use of N-benzyl-2-naphthohydroxamic acid as a highly selective reagent for solvent extraction and spectrophotometric determination of vanadium(V)

N-Benzyl-2-naphthohydroxamic acid extracts vanadium(V) selectively and quantitatively into chloroform from 2-8.5M hydrochloric acid in the presence of Mo(VI), Zr(IV) and Ce(IV). The extraction takes place quickly and gives a stable reddish-violet extract which shows an absorption maximum at 505 nm with molar absorptivity of (5.34 +/- 0.05) x 10(3) 1.mole(-1).cm(-1). The optimum range for the determination is 2.2-7.4 ppm of vanadium(V) in the final solution. The method has been used for the determination of vanadium in steels.