Spectrophotometric determination of vanadium (V) with 2-naphthohydroxamic acid

2-Naphthohydroxamic acid in methanol gives an intense and stable red-orange color with vanadium (V), sensitive to 0.009 μg V/cm², for log I₀/I = 0.001 abs. unit at wavelength 450 mμ. The value for σ is ±0.006 a.u., equivalent to ±0.08 p.p.m. V. The colored complex obeys Beer's law over the range 1–10 p.p.m. vanadium. The absorbance (in 1-cm cell) at 10 p.p.m. was so great that no data were obtained at higher concentrations. Under the conditions of the reaction, the combining ratio of vanadium and 2-naphthohydroxamic acid appears to be 1 to 2. Optimum conditions for the use of 2-naphthohydroxamic acid as a spectrophotometric reagent for vanadium-(V) were established; the procedure was applied to the determination of vanadium in steels and non-ferrous alloys with good precision and accuracy.