New method for detection and spectrophotometric determination of quinones

The reaction between 3-phenylthiazolidine-2,4-dione (I) and p-benzoquinone (II), tetrachloro-p-benzoquinone (III), and 1,4-naphthoquinone (IV) in ammoniacal medium is applied for detection and spectrophotometric determination of quinones. The absorbance-concentration relationship is linear up to 18 μg/ml of quinone concentration. The lower limits of identification in the detection reaction are 2.5, 3.0, and 1 μg for (II), (III), and (IV), respectively, which reflect high sensitivity. The reaction between (I) and quinones is proved to be a condensation reaction and highly selective.